Sirius Black's List
by CharlotteBlackwood
Summary: "I'll bet you can't conquer every girl years four through six currently, before we graduate. I'll bet you're not as desirable as you think you are, Sirius."..."It also includes... Lily Evans." SB/LE SB/OC LM/OC JP/LE... Lots of love to go around! :D
1. Chapter 1

Sirius Black groaned as he turned over in bed. Fabian Prewett had some blonde twit in his bed again, and she was giggling inanely. Fabian didn't understand the importance of getting rid of them swiftly the morning after without hurting their feelings.

As usual, Fabian's stupidity caused a fight between him and Sirius as soon as the blonde twit had left the fifth year boys' dormitory.

"You could show a bit more discretion, Prewett," he spat in the redhead's direction.

"Oh like you know the meaning of the word, Black," cooed Fabian sardonically. "They prefer beds to broom cupboards, you know."

Sirius sneered.

"Clearly, you haven't got the magic touch. If you do it right, they'll be for it anywhere they can get it. If you do it right, they'll be dragging you to the nearest room, bed or no."

Fabian snorted.

"You may think you're hot stuff, Black, and I'll give it to you, that fan club you've got going is impressive, but the Marauder brand only goes so far. I'll bet you're not the sex god you think you are."

"Oh, he is," muttered James defensively, and Sirius winced. It was bad enough half the guys in the school thought they were sleeping together. Fabian knew they weren't, but he would take any of James's stupid, half-asleep sound bites to spread that rumor. More girls for him. Sure enough, Fabian's crooked little smirk deepened.

"All right, I've got a proposition."

"Let's hear it, Prewett," said Sirius lazily, pulling on his pants as the other Marauders stopped what they were doing to listen.

"I'll bet you can't conquer every girl years four through six currently, before we graduate. I'll bet you're not as desirable as you think you are, Sirius."

"He'll take that bet," said James, now more awake and more confident.

"Okay, if he does and succeeds, he can humiliate me any way he sees fit," said Fabian. "If he fails, same rule applies, but reverse."

"Deal," said Sirius, his brain nearly exploding with glee at the thought of humiliating Fabian Prewett.

"This includes Slytherins."

All five boys in the room winced.

"Fine."

"It also includes…" Fabian licked his lips and glanced at James before delivering the final blow. "Lily Evans."

Sirius gulped. The bargain was now not only impossible, it was completely morally wrong. There was a heavy, pregnant silence, and to everyone's surprise, James broke the tension.

"He'll do it," snarled James, and Prewett smirked even more deeply.

"Excellent," whispered Fabian. "I'll see you boys at breakfast. I'm sure you've got planning to do and I've got a blonde to snog."

"Which one?" said Sirius as casually as possible.

"Does it matter?" said Fabian with a wiggle of the eyebrows as he left the dormitory.

There was another silence as they sat around, not meeting each other's eyes.

"Why did you do it, Prongs?" muttered Sirius. "I would have backed out on the deal, you know that. It completely goes against the code."

"No, it doesn't," said James. "She's not mine yet, therefore she's technically free game. She's only off limits because you guys are too good of friends to be so technical about things."

"I don't think Sirius should do it," muttered Remus.

"It's too late to back out now," sighed Sirius. "I guess we'll have to make a plan."

"All right," said James. "We'll have to ask him if you have to re-shag everyone you've already shagged, because that'll cut the number down considerably."

"True," said Sirius, sitting down with a quill and parchment. "I'll make a quick list."

Remus pulled out another quill and parchment.

"I'll make a list of all the girls in question. When all's said and done, there should be something like a sixty girls, right?"

"I don't know, Moony," said Sirius with a wave of his hand. "I don't do math."

"You know what the real kicker's going to be?" said Peter with a little smirk.

They all looked up at him, nodding and said, simultaneously, "Mikki."

Mikki Clark, fellow Gryffindor fifth year, was a feisty, fun girl. She was one of Lily Evans's best friends, and she was the only strictly pureblooded girl in Gryffindor for their year, which was strange, because all of the boys were purebloods. Despite the fact that many of her friends were Muggleborns, or the children of Muggleborns, she was incredibly proud of her pureblood heritage, and wore her necklace with her family crest every day. As a result, she and Sirius spent most of their time arguing rather than having any sort of civil conversation. She was probably the last girl who would want to snog him, much less shag him. Forget Lily Evans. She would be hard enough as it was. Mikki Clark would be the one thing standing between him and humiliating Fabian.

"You know, though," said James thoughtfully, "if we actually told her about the bet, she might do it just to spite Fabian."

Remus snorted.

"You know, she just might. If there's anyone she hates more than Sirius, it's the Prewetts, blood traitors, the lot."

"What the hell does she think she is, running around with MacDonald and Evans and the like?" grumbled Sirius as he buttoned up his shirt.

"I didn't say she wasn't a bloody hypocrite," sighed Remus, "but you get the idea."

"Okay," said Sirius, tongue between his teeth. "I've got thirty-seven girls on this list here. So how many do I have left to shag if he says I don't have to do doubles?"

"Twenty-three," said Remus thoughtfully. "Fifteen of those are Slytherin. Mikki and Lily will be tough. And there's that Ravenclaw sixth year, Kennedy McKlein, who wants to join a Muggle convent after graduating… She'll be tough. But other than that, I'd say you've got about five easy targets."

"Wait…" said James, frowning. "Are you sure all of those girls on your list over there are within the parameters of the bet? That's a lot…"

Sirius smirked.

"Trust me, Prongs, if it wasn't, the list would be much, much longer."

"Well, I suppose we'll have to go make the request of Prewett," said Remus, distaste in his mouth as he spat out Fabian's surname. They probably wouldn't have had a problem with the boy to begin with if he hadn't been the only thing keeping the Marauders from having their own space at Hogwarts.

"Yeah, let's go pry him away from his blonde," said Sirius eagerly, doing up his tie and practically dragging his friends down to the Great Hall behind him.

Sure enough, Fabian Prewett was at the Gryffindor table, one hand on his fork, which was loaded with eggs, and his other hand on the thigh of some pretty young blonde who must have been a third year, traveling up her skirt as she giggled, embarrassed, but didn't stop him.

"Oy, Prewett," growled Sirius as he sat down across from him, "we have a point to clarify in our bargain."

"And what would that be, Black?" said Fabian, still tickling the thigh of the blonde to his left.

"Do I have to reshag girls I've already bedded?"

"Or closeted," supplied James.

"Or toileted," quipped Remus.

"Or changing roomed," said Peter with a grin.

"You get the idea," growled Sirius.

Fabian narrowed his eyes.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret being reasonable and saying no repeats necessary?"

Sirius grinned and handed him the parchment saying, "Here's the list of girls I've already taken care of. If you're suspicious, you can check them all, they'd be happy to tell you all about it."

Fabian's eyes grew wide as he scanned the list.

"B-but this hardly leaves anyone at all!" cried Fabian. "Just the Slytherins and… and Evans and… Mikki and…" Fabian's lip began to curl viciously. "Never mind, I don't regret it at all. You've still got your work cut out for you. Most of these girls are impossible. You'll never bed them all. And here's another little wager for you."

"What have you got?"

"You bed Mikki Clark before me and I will personally declare you god's gift to witches. Have we got a deal?"

Remus snorted into his juice and then set down the glass.

"You're both insane. I'd be surprised if Sirius manages to bed Mikki, much less you, Fabian. If either of you gets that girl, the world is sure to start crashing down around us."

"Stranger things have happened," argued Sirius. "After all, Evans ditched Snivellus as a friend the other day. Perhaps the winds are changing."

"Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that he called her a horribly offensive and unforgivable name and has nothing to do with wind at all," replied Remus dryly as he stirred his porridge.

"Or _maybe_," said James with a grin, "it has something to do with the fact that she's realized she's madly in love with me and has nothing to do with wind or awful names."

"Don't dwell on that hope, Potter," snarled Mikki Clark herself, the feisty little black-haired beauty. "Oy, Remus, I need to borrow your Transfiguration notes from Wednesday."

Remus frowned and said, "Didn't you take notes?"

"I did."

"So why don't you use them?"

"I can't."

"What happened to them?"

"They're gone."

"Where did they go?"

"They've been eaten."

"By _what_?"

"By me."

All five boys stared at her open-mouthed. Mikki sighed.

"Okay, so Mary thought it would be a great idea to write a top-secret message to me on my Transfiguration notes. She left me with no choice. I had to eat them."

Remus gave her a disgusted look and told her she could borrow them any time while the other boys laughed appreciatively at her antics. Mikki gave Remus a grateful kiss on the cheek and squeaked, "Thanks, Remus, you're fabulous. I'll come and get them after breakfast!"

"Oy, Clark!" said Fabian as Mikki turned to go. She whirled back around.

"Yes, Prewett?" she said sweetly. Sirius had to hand it to her; the girl knew how to play the game.

"What are you doing this weekend?"

Mikki batted her eyelashes and said, "Not you, Prewett, and that's all you need to know." She turned her sickeningly sweet grin to each of the boys at the table in turn and said, "Enjoy your breakfast, boys."

As soon as she skipped away, Fabian openly scowled.

"Do you actually want her, Prewett?" howled James, nearly doubled over with laughter.

"No," spat Prewett, "but I've heard she's a good lay."

Sirius frowned.

"From who? I wasn't aware she was on the market."

Fabian smirked.

"I heard about it from a private discussion I overheard in the Slytherin changing rooms as I was leaving."

"Do I want to know why you were in the Slytherin changing rooms, Prewett?" barked James, who was their captain at Quidditch, and winced at the thought of them having to forfeit because of something Fabian had done.

"Of course not, captain," smirked Fabian. "It would spoil the surprise. You'll see at the next match. Those showerheads are far too simple to charm."

"Delayed spell, of course?" said Remus with an approving nod. "From their latest practice?"

"No getting it past you, Lupin," said Fabian who was now completely ignoring the blonde still sitting at his left. He had just asked out another girl in front of her and she was still sitting there, hoping he would notice her. Sirius looked her up and down to make a mental note not to sleep with her, whoever she was. Too clingy.

"Wait," said James, "who was it that was talking about Mikki?"

Fabian's look darkened briefly and he spat out, "Mulciber. And apparently, she's got someone trying to court her."

Sirius felt his fists clench. Slytherins who didn't know better than to keep their slimy paws off Gryffindor women made him furious.

"Who?"

"Malfoy."

"WHAT?" roared the Marauders in unison.

"Yeah," muttered Fabian, stabbing his eggs angrily. "I don't know if she's accepted the courtship, but apparently their parents are all for it."

"I thought he was going to court your cousin, Sirius," said Peter, confused.

"Apparently the albino snake changed his mind," growled Sirius. "I was hoping that would take care of a few things, but if he's moved his affections… I wonder if Evans knows."

"If I know what, Black?" said a confused voice nearby.

Lily Evans had been passing on her way out of the Great Hall, likely to meet up with Mary and Mikki for a study session. Sirius was sure it was all those girls ever did.

"Um," said Fabian, shyly, "just something about Mikki."

"What about her?" said the fiery redhead slowly.

"Do you know if she's seeing anybody?" Sirius said bluntly.

"She's not interested in you, Black," said Lily with a sniff.

"That's not…" growled Sirius. "There's evidence that Malfoy is attempting to court her, and that their parents are all for it. I'm a little curious if she's fully aware of the mark that is on his arm."

Lily's emerald eyes widened.

"You don't think she'd actually… Mikki would never… Wasn't he dating your cousin?"

"Yes, well, now he has to court," spat Sirius, "and he probably thought Mikki was a better catch."

"He's not wrong on that," muttered Remus, and they all winced as they thought of Sirius's cousin. She would be pretty if she didn't have that look of disdain on her face all the time.

"Talk to her, Evans," Sirius muttered. "Please, she might listen to you. Find out if it's true, find out if she knows about the mark, and find out if I need to kill Malfoy or not."

"Let me get one thing clear to you right now, Sirius Black," said Lily, her green eyes flashing dangerously. "I will talk with her because I'm her friend, and as a courtesy for you telling me about this, I'll let you know what the deal is, but this is in no way condoning you becoming a rebound boyfriend, for you attempting to get in her pants, or really anything you might be planning. I'm not an idiot. I know how you operate."

"Now Evans," said Sirius smoothly, "I'm appalled that you think I can't ever do things for noble intentions. Mikki's a good girl, and she deserves better than scum like Malfoy. Doesn't mean I'm the better previously referred to."

"But you think you are, don't you, Black?" she countered.

"Well, Evans, we all know I'm better than Malfoy," said Sirius lazily, "but that's not hard. Just because I'm better than the likes of him doesn't mean anything, really. I'm sure even Prewett here fits that category."

"Whatever, I'm going to talk to Mikki. We'll talk later," she added, looking deliberately at Remus.

"Why?" said Remus, surprised.

"You really think I'm going to go out of way to make conversation with Black?" snorted Lily. "I'm reporting the results of the conversation to you, Remus, of course."

"Oh," Remus said. "Okay, then."

With that, the fiery redhead stormed off, presumably hunting down her best friend to have a heart-to-heart chat about the potential disastrous courtship.

"I wish I could hear that conversation," muttered Fabian.

"Why?" said Peter.

"Two incredibly hot birds hashing out what's bound to be a heated debate full of passion and aggression but not quite as ugly as a cat-fight?" said Fabian with a grin, licking his lips eagerly. "It's bound to be just about the hottest thing since that prank Potter pulled, vanishing all the dresses at Slughorn's Christmas Party last year."

"Mmm, that was hot," said Sirius in happy agreement. "That was when I first noticed what a beautiful rack Mikki's got."

"I believe it was also the first time she told you to bugger off and shove your balls up your own ass," said Remus with a casual, even voice and amazingly straight face.

"She's said that twice?" said James, equally casually.

"Many, many times," said Sirius, a dreamy expression on his face. "Probably a few more times before I finally bed the girl."

"Not going to happen," sang Fabian. "She'll be in my bed by the end of the month, just watch."

"You know, I wouldn't have expected you to take interest in her," said James. "She's not blonde. What's the appeal?"

"She's part succubus," said Fabian with a dreamy grin. "It doesn't even matter what her hair looks like. Can you imagine having a go with that?"

"Ugh," groaned Sirius. "Thanks for that bit of knowledge, I'll be having dreams about it all week now. I could have gone without knowing that."

"You would have found out when you slept with her," said James confidently.

"Maybe," said Sirius. "It'll be nice to have a girl who can keep up with me."

"Yeah, if you get her, Black," said Fabian, putting down his fork and standing up. "She'll be mine first."

"Keep on dreaming, Prewett," said Sirius with a smirk. "I'll even give you a head start. I'll get all the Slytherins out of the way first. Might even bed the Ravenclaw girl before I go for the precious Gryffindor prizes. Should give you at least a month to go at her."

"All those Slytherins?" snorted Fabian. "That'll take a lot longer than a month."

"Not if you've got a plan as brilliant as the one Remus and James gave me on the way to breakfast this morning," said Sirius with a satisfied smirk. "They'll all be bedded in the next two weeks, easy."

Fabian's eyes grew wide with interest.

"What is this plan?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" muttered Remus, who then took a sip of his tea as Fabian Prewett shook his head, wonderingly, before turning on his heel and leaving the Great Hall.

"So, Prongs," said Sirius, "want to make up those fliers now, or wait for this evening?"

"Oh, I'll get on them right away, Lord Black," smirked James, who put down his fork, bowed to Sirius as he stood, and then took off for Gryffindor Tower. Sirius smirked at his friend's retreating back and rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"This is going to be epic."


	2. Full Speed Ahead

"Gather round, one and all!" cried James, standing on a bench at the Gryffindor table the following night at dinner. "All those beautiful, eligible ladies out there, Sirius Orion Black has a proposition for you. As you all know, he's set to inherit the Black family fortune on the unfortunate event of the death of his father. For that, he will need a Lady Black, as well as heirs for his future. All those interested in the position of Lady Black can submit an application with either myself or Mr. Remus Lupin within the next two days, and we'll be informing you of the finalists on Monday morning with a list. Thank you, enjoy your dinners."

"Think we've got 'em?" muttered Sirius to James as he sat down.

"I think so," whispered James. "Look over at the Slytherin table, all the birds are tittering like fiends."

"I think we've got 'em," said Sirius, satisfied as he smirked over at the Slytherin table, which was filled with giggling, gossiping girls who kept looking over at him.

Over the course of the next few days, dozens of girls submitted their information to be considered. The boys sat down after the deadline passed and sifted through all the information, throwing out any girl who wasn't on the list. Just as they had hoped, every Slytherin girl they needed was on the list, and so was the Ravenclaw girl they figured would cause them trouble. Sirius grinned.

"Boys, it looks like it's time to set up interviews."

It wasn't too hard to knock the Slytherins off his list after that. He insisted to each of them that before he chose his wife, he would have to shag her, a sort of "try before you buy" technique, to ensure that it was more than a paper marriage. And of course, they all bought it. Even the Ravenclaw bought it, after much more time, effort, and seduction. Apparently she had an extremely sensitive neck. Once he began stroking it, she was all his. Only two weeks into the challenge, Sirius had two girls to go: Lily Evans and Mikki Clark. His work was still very much cut out for him.

"So Lily reported back to me, Padfoot," said Remus softly one day at lunch. "It seems she is courting him."

"Damn it," growled Sirius, dropping his sandwich back on his plate and running his fingers through his hair agitatedly. "Why?"

Remus shrugged.

"Lily said she tried to talk with her about it, but Mikki was pretty tight-lipped. And she won't talk with me about it either, so I'm at a loss."

Sirius's eyes followed the table down to the girl in question, who was sifting through an Ancient Runes book, an expression of concentration on her pretty little features. She played with her pasta, thoughtfully poking it with her fork. Malfoy shouldn't be allowed to touch something so sweet, much less claim her as his own.

"We've got to stop this. He can't have her." He frowned. "I'm writing to my parents."

"_What?_" cried the other Marauders in union.

"Sirius, you can't be serious…"

"She's a big girl, if she really wants the loser…"

"I'm not so sure setting your crazy parents on them is a good idea…"

"Don't judge until you seen the plan unfold, mates," said Sirius with a wink. "Trust me, this one's a gem."

The other boys could groan all they wanted. Sirius had a plan, and it was one of the most brilliant plans he had ever come up with, on par with his devious trick that got all the Slytherin girls practically begging to have him bed them. Only this was so much better.

The plan would, however, take time and patience, and so he needed to decide on a course of action to bed those two girls while waiting for his plan to be set into motion. Lily and Mikki… the last girls in the year to withstand Sirius Black.

"Which one should I bed first, boys?" said Sirius. "They'll both take some effort. I don't know, Prongs, would you rather I save Lily for last, or get it out of the way?"

"Get it out of the way," snarled James in teeth that had probably clenched themselves out of their own free will. Sirius had to admit, James really was being a sport about this whole thing. If Sirius cared about someone half as much as James continually said he cared about Lily, there's no way he'd let James touch them, no matter what bet was made.

"All right," said Sirius thoughtfully. "It'll take some wooing, though. Lily's not the type to leap into bed, methinks. Wouldn't you agree, Prongs?"

James gave a short, curt nod and Sirius figured he ought to save the planning for a time when he and Remus could sit down and chat. Poor James wasn't going to make it out of this okay if Sirius wasn't careful about things. The stupid boy might do something impulsive in his grief, like throw himself off the Astronomy Tower. That would be bad.

Sirius's eyes travelled back to where Mikki Clark was sitting, talking animatedly with Mary MacDonald. Her eyes were twinkling with laughter and she smirked. It was an aristocratic, satisfied smirk which Remus liked to joke that purebloods were taught from birth. After all, he pointed out, Sirius, James, Mikki, and that prick Malfoy all had it down perfectly. In a way, Sirius mused, Remus was right.

It wasn't that they were given smirking lessons as children, but as the heirs of the most prominent pureblood families in England, they were taught that they were better than everyone else. Why? Well, as Mikki liked to say, "Because it's true!"

In Sirius's mind, he, James, and Mikki really were better than everyone else, but not because of blood, as Mikki would say. It was because they were just blessed with the good luck of being awesome from birth. Sirius's mother, on the other hand, although a prominent pureblood, was merely cursed with the plight of being a psychopathic cow from birth. Not all purebloods were quite so awesome, but all were taught to act as though they were awesome.

Later that day, in the library of all places, Sirius slid into a chair across from Remus and heaved a sigh, looking down at the assortment of books in front of his friend.

"I'm going to pursue Evans next, I think. Best for last and all that."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Not Mikki? But what about your side wager against Fabian?"

Sirius sneered and replied, "Think how much more impressive me beating him to her will be when I do it at the end of my other dare, giving him plenty of time to fail. Besides, the longer I wait to sleep with Evans, the longer I'll have to endure James's brooding knowingness. He knows it's coming and just acts moody and betrayed any time someone brings up the dare. It was his own bloody fault in the first place. He's the one who accepted on my behalf, even after he realized his beloved was up for the bedding."

With a shrug, Remus turned a page of one of the books between them, considering it for a moment, before eagerly scribbling something down on the parchment in front of him. Sirius frowned.

"What are all these books for, anyways?"

"Our essay," said Remus dryly. "The one for History of Magic."

Sirius's eyes widened instantly.

"We have an essay for History of Magic?" he whispered, horrified.

"Yes," said Remus, equally dryly. "And if you could do something other than sleep and flirt in that class, you'd know."

"You think if I asked Lily to borrow her notes, that'd be an in?"

Remus raised an eyebrow.

"I have a feeling that reminding her you don't pay attention in class is pretty much the last thing you ought to do."

Sirius frowned, realizing he was right. This was a dilemma. Lily held schoolwork to be important. Sirius thought it was a waste of time. Lily thought that Quidditch was a silly game. Sirius worshiped every opportunity to celebrate, not least of all James's spectacular wins for Gryffindor. Lily didn't drink. Sirius didn't not drink. How was this supposed to work? Unless Lily was harboring some sort of secret crush on him…

And as fate would have it, she did. Sirius could never tell a soul about it, though, or James would kill him. Well, first he would castrate him, then he would kill him.

It all started at the party Sirius threw in honor of the Quidditch win. Everyone in Gryffindor was excited, and half of it was drunk, and included in both of those categories was none other than Little Miss Perfect Lily Evans. The redhead was dancing wildly with Mikki and Mary, and Sirius could tell she had been drinking quite a bit, but she wasn't stumbling, so she was still sober enough to enjoy herself. Mikki was dragged off by Fabian, who she was rolling her eyes at, which made Sirius a little less jealous as he moved in for the kill on Lily.

Sirius knew how to woo a girl, and he knew better than anybody how to woo a drunk girl. As he slid in behind her, she didn't pull away, even when he whispered who he was into her ear. To his mild shock, she leant back into his body as they danced. Three songs later, they were still dancing and Sirius had lost track of everything else. He had no idea where Mikki was. He had no idea where James was. He had no clue what time it was. All he knew was those green eyes were looking at him with a longing that was slowly sobering and his own longing was quickly growing.

Finally, as a slow song started, Sirius couldn't take it anymore. He pulled her into him and whispered, "Let's get out of here, babe."

She bit her lip and nodded as he led her up to his bed, which he had made and freshened, hoping he'd pull this off tonight. The very next thing he pulled off was her dress, which came off without any complaint from her. In fact, as soon as she was standing in nothing but lacy underwear and sexy black heels, Lily giggled and laced her fingers into his hair, pulling his lips down to meet hers.

Wow.

Somehow, the rest of his clothes were off in record time, and he was hovering over her sweet body, trying not to leave an inch of her porcelain skin untasted. Kissing, licking, nibbling, flat-out biting… Nothing was enough. He needed to really taste her. He needed to consume her. His fingers trailed across her skin and her moans were like drugs for his ears. Smirking ever-so-slightly, he deftly unhooked her bra, and attacked her sweet breasts. He could feel her heartbeat as he massaged her breasts. He couldn't stop now, even if he had wanted to. And he definitely didn't want to.

Kissing his way down to her hips he licked her through the thin fabric of her panties. She gasped sharply, lacing her fingers through his hair once more, physically begging for more. Sirius had only one thought cross his mind as he pulled off the thin fabric keeping him from his prize: If only James could see his Lilyflower now.

She tasted even better than he would have thought, and that was saying something. His tongue eagerly worked its way around her folds, around her clit, into her body. She grasped his hair, he grasped her ass. Her sighs and moans of pleasure were building. It didn't take long at all to bring to her to a shattering, screaming climax, and lap up all of her sweet juices. But Sirius wasn't finished, and apparently, neither was Lily.

"Oh, Merlin," she moaned, "I want you inside me, Sirius."

This had to be some sort of dream. There was no way Lily Evans was begging Sirius Black to fuck her. And yet… it was incredibly real. And Sirius didn't need asking twice.

Her tightness felt so incredibly good, and she gasped with what sounded like pain. He looked up at her, and she nodded. It was her first time. Somehow, he shouldn't have been surprised, but with the performance he had gotten thus far, he actually was. And then, she explained everything: the reason she had been so incredibly sexy, the reason she hadn't said no all night, the reason she had known just what to do.

"I've been dreaming about this for so long," she moaned. "I've wanted you so badly for _so_ long."

There was the ego boost Sirius certainly didn't need but never minded receiving.

"Merlin, Lily, you're so good for me," he breathed into her ear as he started thrusting in and out.

"Uhn, Sirius," she whined. "Oh, yes, Sirius!"

He held on for as long as he could not wanting to end this amazing moment, but once she came, he couldn't help it. He exploded inside of her, completely sated and slightly stunned.

They cuddled on his bed for a while, sharing tired, happy kisses.

"So," he whispered, curious, "just how long have you been wanting this?"

Lily grinned, a bit of pink tingeing her perfect cheeks.

"Since third year," she admitted, snuggling into his chest. "When you got taller than me and started dating around. I liked how you never even looked at me. It was a refreshing change from James."

James. Shit.

"Lily," he breathed, "you know this can't last. Nothing can come of tonight. James is in love with you, and while tonight was bloody brilliant," he admitted, "we're not meant for each other."

"How so?" she said, not hurt, not angry, but curious.

"I'm not meant to settle down, gorgeous," he breathed, "and you're going to make such a wonderful wife someday. You're going to have kids and raise them like a pro, and I'm not qualified to even be near children, what with the fucked up childhood I had. I'm not saying I wouldn't like to have fun with you, I'm just saying, it can't last. You're destined for far more noble things than I could ever hope for."

Lily pouted, but nodded and said, "I think you don't give yourself enough credit, Sirius, but I respect your decision."

He nodded and gave her another kiss, this one deeper, more passionate, like the kisses they had shared on the dance floor. Sirius Black fell asleep with Lily Evans in his arms, acknowledging that the guilty feeling that ought to have been there wasn't.

The moment Sirius woke up, he knew, unequivocally and without a doubt that James was going to murder him. Not only had he just slept with the supposed love of James's life, but he had cuddled with her all night, and enjoyed it. That was probably the worst bit. He shouldn't have enjoyed it. If James ever found out, it would not only end their friendship, but one or both of them would end up dead or in Azkaban. It was bad enough he had cuddled with the girl. What had possessed him to do such a thing?

But he was still cuddling her. Their naked flesh was still pressed together, and he still liked the way it felt. She was certainly a wonderful specimen of a woman. Curse his hormones and their constant ability to drive him out of his senses. They really were quite good at that.

He should be focusing on the bets. He should be focusing on bedding Mikki, and bedding her soon. He shouldn't be focusing on the wonderful, erotic feel of Lily's skin on his, of her breath on his chest, of her legs still tangled in his own. All thoughts of Mikki quickly vanished as Lily moved slightly in her sleep, causing her lips to graze slowly across his skin. He bit back a sigh of contentment. Mikki who? James who? Fabian who? Screw the world. Lily was his. All his. Anyone who said otherwise would be disemboweled.

He could hear James moving on the other side of the curtains. Lily wasn't his. James had claimed her long ago, and she would never be his. With an exasperated sigh, Sirius woke Lily gently and gathered her clothes for her to get dressed. He whispered that he'd wait until James went to shower and give her the signal that it was clear for her to leave. James didn't need to know that Lily had spent the night.

Lying in his bed after she left, Sirius felt like something was missing. Something was wrong. James came out after his shower in nothing but a towel and a smirk.

"So, how was my girl, Sirius?"

How to answer that question? If he was honest and said how amazing she was, James would punch him in the face, but if he said she wasn't any good, James would punch him in the face. Come to think of it, if he hesitated, James would punch him in the face.

"James, no matter what I say you're going to be mad at me," sighed Sirius. "Go ahead and hit me. My jaw is prepared."

"James," said Remus, as James prepared to deliver the blow, "don't do something stupid. She's not even yours, and Sirius is your best friend."

"But Moony," James whined, "he said I could punch him, and I _really_ want to."

"Just don't actually hurt him," said Remus. "You'll regret it later."

James nodded, and just as the fist hit Sirius's jaw, the door to the dormitory was flung open and Sirius had never been so embarrassed to cry out in pain. Mikki Clark was at the door, and she looked positively livid.

"Oh, Potter, please tell me I get next hit?" she growled, sneering down at Sirius.

"What did he do to you?" said Peter.

"Let's see, getting his nose into my personal business!" shrieked Mikki. "What's it to you who I'm courting? How dare you request to challenge his claim!"

The Marauders blinked in unison. If Sirius had thought she was beautiful before, it was nothing to how gorgeous she looked angry. He never saw that hit coming, but he probably should have.


	3. Discovery

"Um…" groaned Sirius, clutching his head. "I'm… sorry? I think…"

"No, you don't!" shrieked Mikki. "And that's where all our problems seem to come from, eh, Black? Because you don't know how to think!"

"What exactly happened?" said Remus, rubbing his forehead, frustrated. Sirius felt a bit guilty, dragging him into this.

"Well, apparently, he's laid claim on me, as a challenge to my courter, so that his cousin can court the man I'm with, presumably. Anyway, because Sirius has higher standing, I've been obligated to court him. Or rather, go on a date and try him on for size…." All four boys blinked at her. "So to speak. Anyway, Black, you absolute dimwit, did you ever just consider that maybe I had my reasons for courting the bloke?"

"Yeah, of course I did," said Sirius, "but there's no logical reason at all for a girl like you to date a thing like that, so…"

Mikki's jaw was set, and suddenly Sirius was very afraid of her. She was beautiful, but in a very terrible way, like an evil temptress, about to destroy something in her path. He might have shivered, just slightly.

"W-we need to talk, Sirius," she muttered. "Alone."

His eyes widened, and he nodded, numbly, as the other boys filed out, smirking at him. Well, James wasn't smirking, exactly. He was still rather bitter about Sirius sleeping with Lily, but what can you do?

"What Mikki?" Sirius sighed, looking up at the girl, who now looked a little bit scared. He frowned, realizing he had seen that expression before, but not on her. No, as far as he knew, Mikki Clark had never been afraid of anything in her life. It had been Remus, just before he had confessed about his furry little secret. She collapsed on his bed, looking down at her hands with a dejected look on her face.

"I-I'm not human, Sirius, you know that?" she whispered, not meeting his eyes.

Sirius nodded.

"Prewett mentioned that you might be a succubus."

Mikki swallowed and nodded.

"You promise not to tell?"

"Mikki," he laughed, "why do you care if people know you're a succubus? They already know you're a sex goddess. Confirming it would be bad how?"

She snarled at him, and he back away slightly, seeing a fierceness in her eyes that terrified him. For a moment only, Sirius felt truly afraid for his life.

"A demon, Sirius! I'm a sex demon! I'm a dark creature! Nobody would want anything to do with me if they realized what it truly meant to be a succubus!"

"I would," muttered Sirius, and he meant it. Suddenly, he realized how Mikki must feel. She, like Remus, must feel dangerous, unwanted, and horribly different. To her, being something that most people only read about in textbooks was less than appealing. He supposed it might be something like how he would feel if he was ugly. No, never mind, he couldn't imagine how that would feel. It was pretty much unthinkable.

"No," she said. "You don't understand. Decent succubae only sleep with a man once. The ones who are out of control, which is most of us, will take a man until he's got nothing left. Sleeping with a succubus repeatedly will weaken you slowly, until it kills you. I-I've been asked by Dumbledore to… I mean I… Sirius, there's a reason I'm courting Death Eaters!"

"Oh!" he said, suddenly realizing. She was a weapon in the war. Dumbledore was setting it up so that she would be ready to take them down, one man at a time, until the war was over.

"Yeah," she muttered, sighing and looking at him sadly. "It's really too bad."

"H-how so?" he said, not exactly sure what she was referring to, but loving the way she had said it.

"There were things I wanted to… accomplish."

Their eyes met and he felt a jolt of electricity run through him. It wasn't exactly fair that she was a sex demon and could pretty much do this to him whenever she wanted. She had done so, on occasion, when she wanted to knock him down a peg, but usually in public. She would say something completely suggestive and alluring, but innocent in actuality, and then give him a look that would shake him to his core, and he couldn't string two words together. A couple of times when they were younger, he actually had fallen to his knees in the middle of crowded corridors at her feet, and she would just laugh and pet his hair in a demeaning way, which never helped. The feel of her hand on his hair made the world spin around him. He was a little stronger now, he though, but perhaps it was because he was already on the floor. He was suddenly closer to her than he had been. Odd. How _did_ he get at her feet, exactly?

Sirius could feel his heart pounding as their eyes locked together, him on his knees, looking up at her as though worshiping her. If she had asked him to, he probably would have. Part of him already was.

"There were just things that I wanted to claim, people I wanted things from."

If he wasn't already so deeply entranced, he might have shivered at the way these words rolled off her tongue and into his ears, numbing his mind and making him grow hot and feverish. He might be panting. He wasn't sure what he was doing anymore, other than gazing into her eyes.

"You know you could have anything and anyone you want in this castle, Mikki," he whispered reverently.

She smirked ever so slightly, running her finger across his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. Fire trailed after it, and he didn't want her to let go of him. If she did, terrible things would happen. It would mean Mikki wasn't pleased with him, Mikki didn't want him, and that would mean he had failed. He didn't want to fail her.

"I know, Sirius," she whispered, her lips just barely touching his ear, and he gasped out in delight.

And then, all too soon, it was over. Mikki smirked again, stood, and marched out of the room, leaving Sirius on the floor, collapsed from the shock, panting and trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Damn it," he muttered. "She got me again."

Only this time, he thought to himself, she had done it in private. They had been alone. They had gone further into the tease than ever before. Was he reading this completely wrong, or had she said that she wanted him before she had to fulfill her duty for the war?

At least, that's what he thought she had said. It was difficult to tell, through all the buzzing and whooshing in his mind as he tried to recall exactly what had happened. He wasn't exactly sure, but he felt an intense feeling of loss, and his heart felt as though it was about ready to explode. James, Peter, and Remus came in.

"Hey, Sirius, we saw that Mikki left and–" said Peter, but he broke off when the boys spotted him, sprawled out on the floor and gasping for air.

"Wow," said Remus. "She got you again."

"She got him good," said James with a smirk that would have rivaled Mikki's.

No. Nobody's smirk could rival Mikki's. Mikki was perfect, everything about her, even her smirk. Especially her smirk. She was the queen of smirking, and not even James Potter could compare.

Sirius was an absolutely bloody lunatic. She got him good, alright.

"Shut up," Sirius tried to snarl, but it came out more like a whine, and he felt rather ashamed of himself. The other boys laughed.

"Well, Sirius, I think she's finally got you in her clutches," said Remus with an amused smirk that Sirius had never seen on the boy's face before.

"What the hell are you talking about, Moony?"

Remus just shook his head.

"I'll tell you later."

Sirius tilted his head, but nodded. James and Peter skipped showers that morning, hungry, and wanting to get to breakfast quickly. As soon as they left the room, Sirius turned to Remus.

"So," he said, "It's later."

Remus nodded and said, "Oh, well, Mikki and Lily have been fighting over you since the second year. I never said anything since James decided he liked Lily about then, and I didn't think it would ever come up, but Lily thinks she's won. But Lily doesn't know about Mikki."

"What about her?"

Remus smirked again.

"Sirius, do you honestly think that two incredibly powerful, dangerous dark creatures can exist at one school this size and not be fully aware of each other? I've known Mikki was a succubus for ages."

"And?"

"And she could have you any time she wants," said Remus with a shrug. "She could have just about any man in the world any time she wanted."

"And if she wants me so bad," said Sirius with a growl, "then why has she waited so long?"

"Because," said Remus, "I suspect she's got feelings for you, and I don't think she wants to lose control and hurt you. But that's just my guess."

Sirius sighed. Girls were so complicated. There was no way Mikki had feelings for him, he was nearly sure of it. She just enjoyed winding him up, making him need her, and then laughing in his face and walking away as if she hadn't done a thing. It was completely evil, cruel, and unfair. He had stopped believing she was playing hard-to-get years ago. She wasn't hard to get. She was _impossible_ to get.

No. She couldn't be impossible to get. He had to get her, just once, and he had to do it before Fabian. Maybe if he told her about the bets…? She disliked Fabian as much as he did, Sirius was sure of it. But then, maybe she disliked Sirius more. What if he told her and she turned around and slept with Fabian just to spite him? Somehow, that seemed like the very sort of thing Mikki would do.

"I think I need a shower," he muttered, pulling himself off the floor, which took a surprising amount of energy.

"Are you okay, Sirius?" said Remus, watching him stumble toward the shower. Sirius waved a hand as if to say he was fine. Remus frown skeptically, but just said, "All right, if you're sure. But if you take a shower you'll probably miss breakfast. Just be sure to watch the time. McGonagall won't be happy if you're late for class."

Sirius waved again and Remus left. As soon as Sirius had ripped off his clothes and climbed into the shower, he turned on the water, letting the hot jet of liquid pour across his body, expecting to feel better, rejuvenated, something other than weak and out of control. All he felt was shaky, dazed, and completely furious with Mikki at bringing him to his knees like that again. He had sworn they had moved past all that, but apparently not. Apparently he was still her favorite whipping boy and she was playing him for a fool again.

He ran the things Remus had said to him over in his mind. Could Mikki really want him? He would be lying to himself outright if he tried to say he didn't want her. She was the most intriguing, most entrancing girl in the whole school. She could have given Morgan Le Fay a run for her money, Mikki Clark could. Was it possible for her to want him as much as he wanted her?

But it didn't matter. As Mikki had pointed out, it could only ever happen once, even if he did manage to bed her. Unless he wanted her to have his death on her conscience. Could he have her once and be satiated? Surely not. He would need her many times. That was the power a succubus held. They were absolutely irresistible, and once you got a taste… And Sirius wanted a taste. Badly.

He was surprised to find a catfight in full swing by the time reached the bottom of the stairs, and he pulled back slightly, not wanting to be noticed. Lily and Mikki were the only ones in the room, thankfully, or James probably would have had a heart attack, or killed Sirius in the shower. Hmm.

"I don't think you understand, Clark, he's _mine_ now. Who do you think just spent the night in his bed?"

"Perhaps you've forgotten, Lily, but dozens of girls have spent the night in that bed. It doesn't mean they've got any sort of real claim to him."

"Just stay away from him, Clark! He's mine! You can have any boy in this school, and you know it, so why do you have to go after the one that I want! Do me a favor, take Potter of my hands, will you?"

"I don't think you really want me to do that," said Mikki quietly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" shrieked Lily.

"Never mind, Lily, why don't you just go down and get some breakfast?" suggested Mikki dryly. "We all know how cranky you get when you don't eat, and Merlin knows I'm not suffering through that in McGonagall's class."

Lily, ever the persistent one, gave a horrible sound halfway between a grunt and a scream and smacked Mikki hard across the face. When there was no retaliation, she squealed with disdain and marched out of the common room, fury on her face. Mikki collapsed to the floor as soon as the portrait hole closed, but didn't notice Sirius coming down the stairs as she began to sob into her hands.

Not knowing what else to do, Sirius just stood there for a moment, taking in the sight. Mikki was the strongest person he knew. When Slytherins were picking on first years, she was the first one to step in front of the maliciously pointed wand, even when she had been a first year herself. She wasn't afraid of anything, she wasn't breakable, period. When they had done a lesson on boggarts, the thing exploded just by trying to figure out what Mikki was afraid of. The professor said it was because she and Mary MacDonald were standing too close together, but Sirius didn't buy that. It was because Mikki was fearless, untouchable, unbreakable. Or at least, he thought she was. Now, she was sprawled out on the floor of the Gryffindor common room, and crying in a way that sounded incredibly broken, and something inside of him started to cry too. He knelt down beside her, carefully sitting next to her and then wrapping his arms around her.

She looked up at his face, her own blotchy and tearstained, and she tried to smile, but her lips twitched oddly before she grabbed his robes and allowed him to pull her onto his lap. She cried into his chest and he petted her, unsure of what had gotten her this way, exactly, but knowing that he was holding the world in his arms and there was nothing he could do to ease the obvious pain she was in. That thought stung.

"Mikki," he whispered, checking his watch quickly, "we've got McGonagall in exactly two minutes. I don't think we can make it without being quite late."

She looked up at him with the most pitiful expression he had ever seen in his life. He had seen that look a few times before. It was the look Regulus held when their parents started to beat Sirius. It was the look James got when Lily said something particularly nasty in rejecting him. It was the look Remus had whenever the full moon was over and he saw the damage he had inflicted the night before on himself and others. It was a horrible look, and Mikki looked completely and utterly pitiful.

"I don't want to go, Sirius," she sniffed. "Please don't make me go."

If Sirius was being logical and perfectly honest with himself, he would have at least set her down to deal with her own stuff on the couch and gone himself. He and Mikki certainly didn't need to attend Transfiguration, they were the best in their year at it, but for the sake of not getting detention with McGonagall, who already saw Sirius at least once a week for detentions, he ought to have gone to class, even late. Maybe then she would have only taken away points.

But when Sirius looked down at Mikki's pitiful face, he just nodded and held her tightly against him, leaning back against the nearest armchair and petting her softly. No words were spoken. No words were necessary. Words wouldn't have sufficed. If Mikki was reduced to tears, then her pain must be so deep that words couldn't even possible describe it, and after all the revelations that had occurred in the past twenty-four hours, Sirius wasn't sure he could have handled it anyway. He fought the urge that he always had around Mikki when she was particularly in control of him, that urge to worship her and confess all sorts of things. It was difficult, especially now that she was in his arms, but somehow he managed. Remus would have been so proud.

The fight with Lily had been the trigger. Unknowingly, Lily had asked Mikki to kill James. Of course, Lily didn't know that's what she had said, and Sirius wondered if she wouldn't have said it if she had known. He suspected she might have said it anyway. Were they really fighting over Sirius?

Sirius wasn't going to lie, he had had a wonderful night with Lily, and he wouldn't mind another. Would Mikki not sleep with him if she found out, though? It wasn't just about winning the bets anymore. Now that he had the prize in his sights, he wanted her more than ever. Maybe that seemingly fragile girl in his arms could be his. This would take all the cleverness and suaveness that Sirius possessed, but he was never one to back away from a challenge.


	4. Of Bathrooms and Broom Cupboards

Sirius would have spent the rest of the day holding and comforting Mikki if she would have let him, but after the first class, she seemed to remember herself and rushed off to get her books for Binns's class. Sirius sighed, knowing he ought to go to Binns's class as well, but not wanting to. Instead, he wandered off to the prefect's bath, hoping to work through some of the mess that had accumulated in his mind.

When he got there, it was already in use. He could see the back of a head that was covered in long red hair poking out of the suds. He froze as the person sitting there turned and looked at him with emerald green eyes, as though looking into his very soul.

"Evans," he whispered.

"Black," she whispered back, and he couldn't help but notice the way their voices played across the stone walls, even with those few syllables.

Neither said another word. They acted as though in a trance, not taking their eyes from each other. She pulled herself out of the bath, soapy water dripping off her naked body as his robe somehow hit the floor. She put her feet carefully on the stone floor as he tossed his tie to the side. She began making her way across the stone floor to him and his shirt was unbuttoned, sliding off his arms to his feet. They were face to face by the time he slid his belt off and threw it beside his tie and their lips met as he feverishly undid his trousers.

His clothes thrown haphazardly all along the floor, she dragged him back to the soapy bath, carefully parting their lips long enough for them to climb in, and then kissing again, needy, anxious, desperate. Somehow, her legs wrapped around his waist in the water, and his lips found her neck, nipping, sucking, licking, kissing until the moans that rose from her lips echoed around the room and teased his ears with pleasure.

This was so incredibly wrong, but neither one was stopping. She ground against him, he moved his mouth down to her succulent breasts, giving each one equal hedonistic attention. Wouldn't want one to be jealous of the other. Her hands laced through his hair, pulling him closer to her body, moaning and gasping in the most incredibly sexy way imaginable. He had her now.

They were finished in time to clean up for lunch so that nobody would know. After all, they couldn't be the only people who skipped Binns class.

As it turns out, they were, but James hadn't noticed, as he had promptly fell asleep on his arrival to class, per usual, and didn't fully wake up until all the Marauders were present and accounted for at lunch. Luck was on Sirius's side, and Remus just shook his head in wonder.

"Did Binns assign homework, Moony?" groaned James.

"No, you lucked out," said Remus, shooting a glance at Sirius, who was acting as unsuspicious as possible.

"Mikki's seemed upset about something all day, Sirius," said Peter, helping himself to a sandwich. "Perhaps that's a decent in for you?"

Sirius swallowed and looked down at his plate, hoping he looked as though he was thinking very hard, rather than avoiding James's eye.

"It could work," he said, "but that girl's not just going to tell me why she's upset and then cry in my shoulder."

Even though that was effectively what she had done that morning.

"True," said James. "Mikki's probably the toughest girl in the whole school to get."

The rest of the day, Sirius attended class, although not as reluctantly as one might think. He took every opportunity possible to watch Lily and Mikki, and tried to think of ways he could sleep with them. Would a threesome with a succubus be a danger to the woman, too? He would have to ask Remus… After all, there was no hiding from him the fact that he was still sleeping with Lily. As Prewett had said, there was no getting past Remus. He probably knew more about what was going on at Hogwarts than Dumbledore himself.

The way Lily held her quill, the way she sucked on her pinky finger when she was thinking, the way she crossed, uncrossed, and recrossed her legs all through Muggle Studies… every move she made was absolute torture for Sirius, who had never been one for self-control to begin with. That redhead was bad enough on her own, but between Mikki and Lily, this bet would be the death of him.

Mikki had taken to turning on the charm whenever he was in the room. As much as he enjoyed watching Lily, Mikki drew the majority of his attention. Thankfully, she wasn't in Muggle studies, but she was in Charms. That beautiful black hair, he just wanted to stroke it, smell it, run his fingers through it. It rested on her collarbone, and he could just picture himself running his tongue along that line, kissing her succulent neck. The top part of the school uniforms wasn't particularly amazing, but as she sat in her chair, the robes fell away from her legs and he could see her legs up to the hem of her skirt and thanked Merlin for the sight. Her perfectly toned legs, he just wanted to trace his fingers along them, up them, under that skirt that was hiding what he was dreaming about at night.

Naturally, Mikki caught him mentally undressing her and smirked at him. Oh, that beautiful smirk. When she smirked, her eyes sparkled, her lips looked softer, and she always tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear. She had those high pureblood cheekbones, the finely chiseled features of the best of the pureblood families. They arranged in a contemptuously amused look that made him go instantly hard. It just wasn't fair. She could probably match Lily for natural beauty and sex appeal, but then she had to go and be a dark creature on top of it all and it just wasn't fair.

After dinner, after watching those two girls sit and eat with Mary MacDonald as if they hadn't just screamed at each other over a boy that very morning, Sirius was amazed. Girls really were crazy.

Somehow, though, even watching those two eat was an erotic experience, and when Mikki had helped herself to her second piece of chocolate cake, he nearly lost it and launched himself at her, but thankfully, at that very moment, Remus distracted him with talk about the upcoming Christmas holiday. They would be staying with the Potters, and Sirius would be joining them after the holiday itself, if he behaved himself.

"I'll do what I can," he muttered, pushing the beans around on his plate.

"Mm-mm," said James with a smirk. "Look who's on her way over to you, Sirius."

Sirius turned and saw Tien Vo heading his way. He wouldn't call her a weakness, but the pretty, petite Gryffindor Keeper was certainly one of the best lays of his life. However, as he had already bedded her, she wasn't on his mind, and he doubted he was on hers. They hooked up every once in a while for a change of pace, but neither of them was sincerely interested in each other for a long term relationship. They knew each other too well.

"So," she said with a wink, sitting down next to James. "I hear a certain Marauder had a very, very good twenty-four hours."

Sirius winced.

"Can we maybe talk about this in private, darling?" he said.

"Of course, baby," she cooed. "First floor broom closet acceptable?"

"You know me, love," he said with a hollow laugh. "Low maintenance."

And with that, he followed her out into the hall and allowed her to drag him into the broom closet and close the door, locking and silencing the room with her wand.

"Spill, baby. How was Evans."

"She was fabulous, Tien," he moaned. "It was the best sex of my life, and then we did it again!"

"I figured as much," snorted Tien. "Very few things could keep Lily Evans out of class, and one of them is you. Now that you've learned your power, try not to drag our prefect out of class all the time. I've got a rather large bet placed on her for Head Girl."

"I'll do my best," he said solemnly.

"I hear my dearest Mikki got you, too," she said with a giggle.

"No, we didn't…"

"No, I don't mean sex, baby, I mean that she got you!"

"Ah, yes, that. Tell me, darling, who _do_ you get your information from?"

Tien giggled.

"Oh, I didn't tell you that I'm secretly fucking Remus?"

"Not funny, darling."

"No, but he is my source."

"I'll keep that in mind. Anyone else I should be beating up for sleeping with my baby?"

"Don't you dare, Sirius. I don't scratch out the eyes of all the girls you sleep with. I have a right to sleep with whomever I please."

"And that's what I love about you, Tien. Really, truly, a woman after my own heart."

"Mmm, this closet does bring back a few memories, baby, doesn't it?"

Sirius sighed, pulling her perfectly curved, petite frame against his.

"When was the last time I got a bit of Tien time? I do believe it's been far too long, darling. How about we do some catching up?"

"Mmm," she moaned as he backed her into the wall, grabbing her ass and allowing her to wrap her toned legs around his waist, pressing his mouth to her neck, pulling at her tie when she was secure against him.

"Unh, Sirius," she gasped as he nibbled lightly on her newly exposed collarbone. "When was the last time you were crying out my name?"

"It's been too long, darling," he whispered hotly against her skin, smelling the sweet jasmine perfume she always wore and anticipating the fun to come.

Her shirt was on the dusty floor moments later and he quickly unhooked her bra, tossing it aside, where it caught on a mop handle. Before another second passed, his mouth was on her breasts, devouring them has he had done Lily's less than an hour earlier. Within moments, Tien was moaning deeply, her hands lacing into his hair, encouraging him. As if he needed encouragement. Her breasts were like candy.

When he wiped his mouth and followed Tien out of the broom cupboard nearly an hour later, he had a happy, sloppy grin, which was soon replace by a horrified expression as he saw Mikki Clark standing in the entrance hall, talking with Mary MacDonald happily. Her eyes met his, moved over to Tien then back to him, and her expression fell slightly, and he never wanted so badly to crawl into a cupboard and hide. For the first time ever, he regretted sleeping with Tien.

"I have to go," he muttered to Tien as he watched Mikki running up the marble staircase, yelling back at Mary that she just remembered a letter she had to send. Tien nodded and Sirius ran up the stairs after her, taking every shortcut he could think of and beating her to the Fat Lady by half a corridor.

"Mikki," he called, "we need to talk!"

"I have nothing to say to you," she said coldly, and he felt his heart break a little at her tone. "All you've done in the past forty-eight hours is make my life miserable."

"Mikki, please," he moaned, "just hear me out! I promise if you still feel mad at me I'll let you be mad as long as you want, but please, baby, listen to what I have to say."

When he called her 'baby' she blinked at him surprised, and he used her momentary shock to pull her into a nearby broom closet. He held her up against the back wall, away from the door, and they both panted at all of the sudden actions. His lips were so incredibly close to hers… if he just leaned forward…

"Speak," she snapped.

"I – I didn't mean to… well, I mean, yes, I meant to… but it didn't mean anything, and I… I really want you Mikki, but I don't know… you always push me away, and I guess… but the Lily thing means nothing… and Tien… it all means nothing. They're just good lays. I… please, Mikki… I want… I don't know… I need…"

"Stop babbling," she snapped.

Sirius's mouth snapped shut. He didn't want to upset her any more than he already had. Although as soon as he shut his mouth, he found himself wishing he hadn't, as Mikki's lips were on his, making the room swirl around him, and he grabbed on to her waist, trying to steady himself, but if anything, the room seemed to swirl faster. It was as though he was falling out of consciousness and into a world between waking and dreaming. He wanted to devour her mouth. It was the only thought in his mind, and he made to do so, finding her just as eager and wondering at her eagerness. There was no way this goddess should want him. But she did.

Mikki pulled back from the kiss and Sirius's head was spinning again, but not in a good way. He whined, wanting her mouth back, but when she pushed him onto an upturned bucket, crawled onto his lap and began massaging his scalp with her fingers, he moaned in pleasure instead. Too many sensations at once, he thought, she must be trying to give him a heart attack. Oh well, it was worth it.

"School's almost done," she whispered in his ear. "And we haven't gone on that date yet."

He whimpered, biting his lip as her lips brushed his ear.

"We'll have to do it over the summer," she breathed. "Your parents won't object. And then I'll have you…. Mmm…"

"Yes, Mikki," he moaned as she ground into him. "Merlin, yes."

"Do you want me, Sirius?" she purred. "Do you want me more than anyone?"

"Yes," he hissed. "Mikki, I want you so badly, _please_…."

"Not now, pet," she cooed, licking his ear slowly, drawing out a long, low moan from his lips. "Soon. I'm going to make you beg."

"I'm already begging," he sighed. "Mikki, I'll worship you if that's what you want, _please_…"

"Don't worry, you will," she said with a low laugh, "but right now, I'm going to sleep. Three days, and we'll be on the train ride back, and I'll give you instructions on the train for our date."

"Of course," he whispered, inhaling more of her intoxication scent.

She crawled off his lap and left him sitting on the upturned bucket in the broom cupboard, his head resting on the cool stone wall and his heart racing so fast he was sure it would explode. He needed to slow down and think. Matty would probably have to marry the minute she turned seventeen. He had a little over a year. How many times could one sleep with a succubus before you died? Was it a set number, or did it depend on other factors? Maybe Remus would know.

While part of him wanted to kidnap her and bed her right away, another part of him wanted to save it for the very end of summer, so that he would have something to look forward to. In the end, Sirius's hormones won the better part of the compromise and he decided to wait until the week after they got home. It would be very, very hard to hold off until then, but it would also give him time to do some research on succubae.

Sirius ran as fast as his feet could carry him to Gryffindor Tower, to find Lily, Mikki, Tien, and Mary sitting in a corner, doing their last bit of studying for the Transfiguration O.W.L., which was the next day. Those girls had patched things up rather fast, he thought. Grabbing Remus by the arm, he muttered that he had an academic question for him that he needed to ask in private. Remus looked skeptical, but his curiosity got the better of him and he followed him up to the common room, probably hoping for something about their upcoming exam. Sirius didn't need to study for that exam. He knew it all.

"How many times can a man sleep with a succubus without dying?" said Sirius, pacing the floor urgently. At first Remus looked exasperated, but then a small smile turned on his lips.

"Got you again, did she?"

Sirius glared at him.

"Look, Sirius, there is no set amount. It's always more than once, but it depends on so many factors, it's really not safe to push your luck on it. Besides, you only need to do her once for the bet, you know."

"This isn't about a stupid bet anymore," moaned Sirius. "And don't you dare tell James or Prewett or anyone else…"

"Never."

"I think I'm in love with her, Moony."

There was an awkward, stiff silence between them, Sirius sure that Remus could hear the pounding of his anxious heart, Remus studying him as though he had never looked at him properly before, or perhaps more like a Healer examining a patient for signs of some serious suspected illness.

"How long ago did she get at you, Padfoot?"

Yup, Sirius Black was being diagnosed by a werewolf. Oh, the irony.

"Long enough," growled Sirius. "But I'm not under some sort of magical influence, Moony, I really think I'm in love with the girl."

"Well, that would be just like you, wouldn't it," said Remus with a humorless laugh, sitting down on James's bed, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You can have any girl in Hogwarts you want, but the one girl you absolutely can't have more than once, you decide you fall in love with. Please, don't start saying you can't live without her or I think I'm going to have to check you for love potions, sign you in to a ward at St. Mungo's… anything for your safety."

"I'm not suicidal, Remus," said Sirius softly.

"That's good to know."

"Mikki and Lily had a fight this morning."

"I'm not surprised."

"About me, I think."

"Again, not surprised. They fight about you on a fairly regular basis."

"That's… weird. Anyway, Lily told Mikki to take James off her hands… and Mikki looked horribly sad… Lily doesn't…?"

"No, she doesn't know Mikki's a succubus, or I doubt even Lily would have said that," said Remus with a sigh. "As annoying as she finds James, I think she does have some measure of affection for him, and it would shake her quite a bit if he died. If she had any idea of the implications of what she said, I think she'd feel absolutely horrible."

Sirius nodded. As soon as exams were over, he was hitting the library. He was going to find out absolutely everything there was to know about succubae. They had to be able to live reasonably normal, and he was going to find out how.


	5. Summer Begins

The Transfiguraton O.W.L. was almost easier than the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L., and as soon as it was over, James wanted to go down to the lake and enjoy the day, or rather, enjoy the view of Lily. Sirius opted out, saying he wanted to go to the library and check on something. This earned him several curious looks, not only from his fellow Marauders, but from passersby. Sirius Black and library really didn't belong in the same thought. In fact, the only non-perplexed face in the vicinity was Remus's, and he looked grave, but on his honor, said not a word, and Sirius waved good-bye to his friends in the entrance hall, going, for the very first time, to the place in Hogwarts where books were kept.

Sirius had absolutely no idea where he was or what he was doing, but he did know that even in his father's personal library, he had never seen so many books in one place. He had to ask the librarian, whose name he didn't know, where he could find information on the more powerful magical creatures. She asked him what he had in mind.

"Oh, sirens, banshees, succubae, vampires… the like."

"Ah, the seemingly humans, you mean?" she said with a nod, and led him off to a shelf, pointing out a section of books that he ought to look through and he thanked her before starting in on the books, looking for any mention of a succubus in the index of each book in the section. He had all day.

Sirius came to find that there was very little specific information on succubae, certainly far less than there was on werewolves and vampires. He was having a hard time learning anything he didn't already know or couldn't have already guessed, and that was incredibly frustrating.

"Are you seriously reading that crap?" said an amused voice over his shoulder, just a half hour before the library's closing. Sirius whirled around to find Mikki looking over her shoulder, a disgusted look on her face and her hair in a cute little ponytail that he suddenly found himself wanting to play with. What an odd notion.

"Why do you care what I'm reading?" he snapped, slamming shut the book in front of him, which had said nothing the others hadn't.

"Well," she said, sitting down beside him, "considering that we haven't studied succubae yet, and likely won't until N.E.W.T. level, I can tell you're not doing it for an essay. And since I'm certain there aren't more like me roaming the halls for you to come in contact with, I imagine you're doing research because of me. In which case, I care a great deal and it's most certainly my business."

Sirius just shrugged and began putting books away, not wanting to incur the wrath of the librarian, who already seemed suspicious of him, though he'd never actually met her. She must have heard of him, he thought smugly, but that thought was interrupted by a pair of hot lips making contact with the back of his neck.

On reflex, he gripped the shelf in front of him, biting his lip and holding in the moan that was building inside of him. The world was spinning again. It was incredibly unfair, and she knew it.

Her nimble little fingers began trailing up his sides as her tongue traced patterns on his neck. She seemed to be drawing the same pattern, and with the stopping and starting, he thought they might be letters. It took Sirius an incredible amount of effort to keep his presence of mind enough to puzzle out what she was spelling. Y-O-U-R-E-M-I-N… E.

He separated the letters into words in his head, which took longer than it ought to have, considering the fact that all that his mind wanted to focus on was the delicious sensation of her tongue on his skin, and how he wished she would never remove it. When she did remove it, she turned him roughly to face her and he nearly fell to his knees just seeing that burning look in her eyes, but she had in backed so tightly against the bookshelf that he didn't have that option.

"Mikki," he groaned, as she ran a finger carelessly in spirals across his neck.

"Did you get my message, Sirius?" she whispered in her low, rich, seductive voice. He nodded and swallowed. It was all he had the presence of mind to accomplish. "Good," she hissed in his ear. "Don't you dare forget it."

And as suddenly as she had arrived, she was gone, and a dazed Sirius Black found himself leaning against a bookshelf for support as the librarian told him the library would be closing soon and to make sure he got everything back where he found it. His knees were threatening to give way as he hoisted up his bag and went as fast as his wobbly legs would carry him back to his dormitory, where he took a cold, cold shower and went to bed. There was no sleep in his near future, however. Sirius could do little more than stare at the ceiling and try not to allow images of Mikki taunt his sleep-deprived mind.

The remaining days of the year were not only few, but incredibly torturous to Sirius. Any time he saw Mikki, his heart would go insane, beating out of his chest, and he had the sudden urge to fall on his knees and beg for her to sleep with him. And that smug little sneer she gave him only made it worse. Sirius knew that Remus was watching him, making sure he wouldn't do anything stupid. When he was being perfectly honest with himself, he was glad Remus was keeping an eye on him, but when he was lying to himself, which was most of the time, he wished his friend would mind his own business.

Finally, after distracted packing, an incredibly steamy snogfest with Lily Evans in the passage behind the fourth floor mirror, and several Remus-lectures later, Sirius Black was on the train back to London with the other Marauders. The end of the year tradition was to begin planning pranks for the next year and reviewing successes and failures of the year already finished, which the others nostalgically carried on. Sirius was usually the most eager contributor to these activities, but today, he was all but silent, staring out the window, daydreaming of Mikki's body writhing beneath his. He gave an involuntary shudder that he was sure Remus noticed, but he didn't meet the werewolf's eyes. After all, he would be meeting Tien, Lily, and maybe even Mikki on the train at some point. He didn't have time for guilt. Keeping up with all of these women was going to be the death of him.

Before he had puzzled out which girl he'd track down first, the bold one of the three, Tien, made her way to him. She slid the compartment door open and slipped inside, closing it sharply behind her and passing the other boys with brief greetings. The petite Asian girl crawled into Sirius's lap and gave him a firm, warm kiss of greeting.

"Well, good morning," he said softly, and she laughed a little. Tien didn't giggle. She was far too tough for that, and Sirius appreciated it. There were far too many gigglers at Hogwarts, and appeasing them all was an incredibly tiring task. One of the main reasons he and Tien were always getting together is they were both extremely casual about it. No claims were made, no scenes, nothing was ever a production. They just had plenty of good clean sex and he didn't even have to talk about feelings. Which was a very good thing, really, because when it came to Tien, he didn't have any, and he suspected she didn't have any either.

"What are you going to do with yourself, baby?" she whispered in his ear, his hot breath tickling his nerves delightfully. "So deprived of women…"

"Mikki's promised me a date," he breathed. "I challenged her courtship. She owes it to me."

"Oh, Sirius," she teased, licking his lower lip playfully. "You can't shag Mikki. You'll never want me again. What am I going to do when I get bored?"

He laughed breathily.

"Oh, Tien, I'll always make room in my life for you. It's not like she and I are going to be together. We're just going to have hot, raunchy sex."

They laughed, but after that, words weren't necessary. Their bodies melded together, exploring all the places they knew by heart, venturing each other's bodies as if for the last time. Tien seemed to think it was. Sirius wondered, but he didn't think that once he'd had Mikki he would be celibate. He was, after all, Sirius Black.

When he finished with Tien, it didn't take long for Lily to find him, thankfully when James was off changing, and he had a round with her in the back of the train. He felt as though he ought to have felt especially guilty, as James was somewhere on the train, probably daydreaming of Lily at that very moment. Sirius sighed, attempted to fix his hair so he didn't look like he'd been having sex all day, and stared at the floor of the compartment while Remus read and Peter bounced anxiously up and down in his seat. It was thus that Mikki Clark, goddess of Sirius's existence, found them.

He was speechless. All he could do was stare and blink and flop his mouth open and closed like a fish. And the way she heaved that exasperated sigh told him she wasn't even turning on the charm. She wasn't even _trying_ to turn him into putty. All well, it happened anyway.

"Remus, darling," she said, "would it be possible for me to drop by your house sometime this summer and whatnot? I need a date for a few week-long functions, and I'd rather it was someone who could keep their paws of me."

She didn't add the "for their own good" that was lingering on the air, but Sirius and Remus heard it loud and clear, echoing in the unsaid space between words and thoughts.

"I'd be delighted, Mikki," said Remus with a small smile, "but I'm afraid, if it's one of those dressy events, I haven't got anything appropriate to wear."

"Don't worry, love, I'll take care of everything. How do you feel about blue?" Remus shrugged. "I think you'd look fabulous in blue. I'll arrange everything. Ta!"

"Wait!" Sirius called, but Mikki had already left.

"What's wrong, Padfoot?" said Peter, frowning.

"He's upset she asked me and not him," muttered Remus, turning the page of his book. "She always takes me to these things, Sirius, keeps her from being bothered by swine and gives me an excuse to get out of the house."

Even though Sirius knew why Mikki and Remus were so close, it put him in a foul mood for the rest of the train ride back. He was going to make her want him again, so badly that she would just be around him if it was all that was safe to do. He had to make this the best she'd ever had, when the time finally came.

His parents were waiting on the platform for him and his brother, their sour faces and fancy clothes making them stick out like the sore thumbs they were. If they could send the house-elf to fetch their sons from Muggle London, they would have done, but a house-elf in King's Cross was entirely out of place. Sirius waved goodbye to the other Marauders and followed his younger brother off toward his parents.

The ride home was short and silent, one of the many benefits of living in London. The Potters had a ridiculously long car ride. When they got to the house, Sirius ran up to his room as quickly as possible and passed out on his bed. He didn't want to speak to anyone or do anything that hindered his fantasizing about Mikki. Surprisingly, he managed to make it to dinnertime without any unwanted family interruptions. Of course, dinner was about an hour after they had arrived home, but that was all semantics, really.

"So," said his mother as she sipped her goblet of water casually, "how was school, boys?"

"Interesting," said Regulus with a smile. "We learned about curses this year. It was a nice change from dark creatures."

"That sounds lovely, dear," said Mrs. Black. "And you, boy?"

"I'm sure the Malfoys wrote you an indignant letter, so I doubt I'll have to tell you how my year's been," said Sirius, somehow managing to hold in his smirk.

"About that," said his father, "when were you going to tell us that you had decided to take an active role in your inheritance? What changed your mind?"

Sirius looked thoughtfully at his fork, wondering what to say. He honestly hadn't given a second thought about his inheritance, but he couldn't tell them that. He absolutely couldn't say anything that would jeopardize his one shot with the girl of his dreams.

"Mikki," he breathed.

His mother gave a sharp nod.

"I always said she'd make a fine lady of the house. You would make a handsome pair, produce attractive and healthy heirs, and she has quite a fortune of her own to add, considering the fact that she's the sole heir to the Clark fortune."

Regulus smirked at his salad.

"You know, mother," he said, looking pointedly at Sirius, "there's a lot of rumors circulating about the blood status of that girl."

Sirius frowned at Regulus. No. His brother wasn't going to ruin this for him. Absolutely not.

"What are you talking about, Regulus?" said Mr. Black, slicing his meat into perfect little cubes. "I wasn't aware of any talk of infidelity on the part of her mother."

"No, nothing like that, father," said Regulus. "There's talk that she's not exactly… human. There's quite a rumor going around Slytherin, you see. Seems she might be a succubus."

Sirius tensed, biting the inside of his cheek furiously, waiting to gauge his parents' reactions before he said a word. He wasn't losing his shot. He wasn't.

"That's absurd, Regulus," said Mrs. Black, laughing with a cold, shrill burst. "That's the sort of thing lesser wizards spread around when they know a woman is too good for them, trying to make it look as if they didn't want her when they never really had a chance to begin with. Such heinous lies. Don't believe a word of it, dear."

"Yes, mother," said Regulus, but from the look he gave Sirius, Sirius could tell that his brother didn't believe what his mother had just said. He bought into the rumors. There was no way to prove it, however, and Sirius was pleased to know that his parents weren't likely to believe the truth of the matter even if it was presented to them.

"So you did receive a letter from the Malfoys, then, I take it?" asked Sirius as casually as possible.

"Naturally," said Mr. Black. "I assured Abraxas that you would play fair, and that if he won we wouldn't sink to depths considered unacceptable in order to keep her attention on you."

"I've only been promised a single date, father," said Sirius, although he was certainly glad that for once in his life his parents were happy with a decision he'd made. Granted, they didn't know that it would only be one date, they didn't know she was a succubus, they didn't know she was working with Dumbledore, and the certainly didn't know that Sirius had fallen in love with her. If they had known, he would probably have his face on the floor while his mother beat him senseless, shrieking like a banshee.

"You're very charming when you want to be," his mother said, which was true. "Just keep in mind what's at stake and I'm sure you'll do fine."

Regulus smiled and took a drink of his water.

"As I recall, Sirius, Mikki Clark always seemed rather immune to your charms."

Sirius bit the inside of his cheek and took a deep, calming breath.

"Publicly, perhaps," said Sirius, "but our mutual friends tell me that she has secretly been less than immune to my charms for years, brother."

Well, it was the truth. Regulus's smile soured and Sirius smirked slightly, attempting to cube his meat in the same size has his father and brother had done. After all, things were going well so far. He might manage to get through the summer without a beating, especially if Mikki played along.

"Have you set up the date yet?" his father asked.

"Not formally, no," said Sirius, hiding his growing frustration with his meat. "I want to give her a little bit of time with her family before I asked her. I was thinking in two or three weeks we could have a date."

"That sounds agreeable," his mother said thoughtfully. "Best make it two weeks, Sirius. We wouldn't want to give the Malfoys any chance to press their advantage."

"Of course not, Mother," said Sirius, giving Regulus a smug look before returning to his rebellious meat. In truth, he was more than happy to make it two weeks for the sheer fact that he already felt as though he was dying without her.

After dinner, Sirius rushed up to his room, giving his brother no chance to accost him on the stairwell. He wrote a quick letter to James and an even quicker one to Remus. They would want to know how things were. For the first time since he was eleven, his first letters of the summer didn't include the words, "Please take me away from here." He would be more than happy to stay in this horrible house as long as he had Mikki, or at least had a dream of her.

**A/N: This chapter is for **_**emmie4life**_**, who kindly reviewed, alerted, and favorited this story, even though, as she pointed out, it hasn't been updated in quite a while. So sorry about that. Your reviews really do speed the process, though, and as I had ZERO feedback, my muse had run dry. I will NEVER, however, drop a story. I always finish my stories. So, thanks for the feedback, **_**emmie4life**_**, and I'll try to be better about updating! Let me know what you think, guys!**


	6. Just Once I Loved

Sirius awoke in the middle of the night with the sensation of being poked with something sharp. He opened his eyes to find five owls hovering over him with letters on their legs, pecking him awake.

"All right, all right, I'm up," he muttered, turning to the first owl and relieving its burden.

It was Remus's owl. He told Sirius to be careful with how he strung along his parents and to watch out for Regulus, but that he was happy that Sirius was having a summer that didn't begin with him wanting it to be over.

The next owl was Tien's. She wanted to tell him all about the Vietnamese boy she had slept with when she first got to her aunt's house. That was something he loved about Tien, she could tell him anything and felt absolutely no shame in confiding in him the most intimate details of her sex life, down to the positions. She really was something special.

The third owl was from James. Naturally, James was a bit pouty that Sirius didn't want to instantly be rescued and dragged off to Potter Manor, but he was happy that Sirius was happy. He just wasn't happy that it was at his expense. In fact, James went on for a whole page about all the things he couldn't do because Sirius wasn't there and how incredibly lonely he was. Well, James was a bit of a child. And then he threw in a half a page at the end about how much he loved Lily and how it was killing him not to see her beautiful face, her sparkling eyes, her soft hair.

That made Sirius's gut twist guiltily when he saw that the fourth owl was from Lily. She told him that she missed him already, that she hoped he was enjoying and behaving himself, and that she couldn't wait for school to start up again so she could be with him. Then she had a page about how much she hated James and why. Sirius was wondering if her hand had cramped from how many times she wrote "arrogant toerag".

The final owl was from, of course, Mikki, and Sirius's heart skipped a beat as he reverently read and reread each beautiful word of her wondrous letter.

_Sirius,_

_Two weeks._

_-Mikki_

He wanted to stare at it so long that the letter became her, but by the time the owls began to peck him again, it had not changed at all, so he set it down and began responding to each letter as quickly and appropriately as possible.

When the owls had finally ceased harassing him and were on their way with their new deliveries, Sirius passed out on his bed once more, not waking up until his brother came to get him for breakfast.

"I know about your little Mudblood whore," Regulus hissed as Sirius sat up. "I know that Clark is a succubus. Mother and Father are going to be furious when they find out everything."

"Like that's a change," Sirius snorted. "And don't use that word around me, Regulus. You're better than that."

"No, Sirius, you're better than that," Regulus hissed. "That Evans whore doesn't have the right to lick your shoes, much less your cock."

Before he realized what he was doing, Sirius had slammed Regulus up against the wall, his hand squeezing at his little brother's throat.

"You listen to me and you listen good," Sirius growled. "Lily Evans is a better human being than you, Mother, Father, or any one of their horrible friends could ever hope to be. If I ever hear you insult her in such a way again, I will personally make sure you aren't able to produce heirs, pureblooded or otherwise. Am I understood?"

"Perfectly," said Regulus softly with his little smirk.

Sirius dropped his little brother and the boy walked as casually as could be hoped for back out into the hall, leaving Sirius to dress in peace. Somehow, Regulus knew about Lily. What could Regulus do with that knowledge? Nothing good, surely. He could put Lily in danger, threaten Sirius's chances with Mikki, ruin Sirius's friendship with James… so many things could come crashing down in a heartbeat.

He dragged himself down to breakfast, suddenly nervous and tense, avoiding his brother's triumphant gaze. Sirius couldn't recall a time in his life he was ever more scared of his brother. Regulus had always been lost in the world of their parents, never bothering or daring to interfere with Sirius and his affairs. Something had changed. Perhaps it was the fact that their parents were finally treating Sirius like their heir, but Sirius suspected it was something else.

Miraculously, Sirius was able to maintain the necessary balance, eagerly awaiting his date with Mikki, keeping his brother out of his hair, and staying on the good side of his parents' tempers. It took a fair bit of work, but he knew it would all be worth it.

Somehow, he managed to survive it, however, and he found himself standing in front of the Clark Manor, heart racing, his mind numb with joy. He was received by a house-elf, which didn't surprise him. What did surprise him, however, was how kind and cheerful this elf was, especially in comparison with Kreacher. Mikki came into the foyer promptly and Sirius felt his heart stop completely.

"Mikki," he sighed, taking in her sophisticated dress and nervous expression. This side of Mikki Clark was completely foreign to him, but he loved it.

"Hey, Sirius," she said quietly, but the sound of her voice made his heart do funny things and his breath leave his body. She gave him an expectant look and he nervously offered her his arm. "How are we travelling?"

"The weather is good," he muttered. "I have this flying motorbike…"

"Oh, Merlin!" she gasped. "Sirius, that's amazing!"

He laughed, thrilled that she was happy about the choice of transportation. He hadn't wanted to Floo. Getting ash and soot all over your clothes was always a date damper. Sirius led her out to the front gate where his bike was waiting, handed her a helmet, and helped her get on behind where he climbed up. Mikki wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, clutching his torso with her glorious little fingers, and for a moment Sirius forgot where he was and what he was doing.

When Sirius regain his presence of mind, he started up the engine, drove out of the driveway, and lifted up off the ground. He had always enjoyed this bike, a gift of James's parents, and lived for the thrill of the wind in his hair, but somehow it was even better with Mikki along for the ride. It certainly made him feel better about having to take her on a formal date to share this moment in their Gryffindor glory, defying the ways of the purity of their blood.

They landed in the village of Godric's Hollow, which Sirius was incredibly familiar with because of James. When he stayed with him, Sirius got drinks half off at The Eagle's Barrel, which was the local tavern. Of course, part of that was because he would spend his Thursday nights tangled up in the arms of the adorable young barmaid, Maia Guidi. But Mikki didn't need to know about that.

"Hey Sirius," said Maia with a smile. If there was one thing he loved about Maia, it's that she knew how to behave herself when he had other women around. She didn't flirt, didn't glare, didn't do anything to tip off the other woman that they were anything more than acquaintances, friends at best. Somehow, though, Mikki knew, and she gave Sirius a hard look as he ordered drinks.

"How long have you been sleeping with her?" said Mikki casually as Maia walked away.

Sirius dropped the salt shaker he had been playing with, ignoring the thud it made as it hit the wooden table.

"Oh, you know, every now and then when I'm in town," he muttered. "She's a good girl. I've known her since I was thirteen."

"Mmm," muttered Mikki. "At least she had the decency not to flaunt it."

Sirius just shook his head and smiled. Surprisingly, he found that he didn't care that Mikki new or how she knew. He was satisfied just to have her with him, even if it was across the table in a crowded tavern. He was vaguely aware that he was grinning like an idiot, but it didn't matter.

They talked and laughed over drinks, getting along like they never had been able to do since the very first day they had met when they were eleven years old. Normally, within an hour Mikki and Sirius were fighting like a pair of male puffskeins in mating season (which, as far as Sirius was aware, was about 15 hours of every day). Somehow, however, they stayed for three hours in that tavern, behaving and getting along completely.

Finally, Sirius worked up the courage to take her out onto his bike again. James had helped him pick a spot in the woods east of Godric's Hollow for a picnic, secluded enough that he could do whatever he wanted and not be seen. Now the only concern was whether James would be hiding out with binoculars.

They arrived and touched down, Sirius quickly setting up the picnic while Mikki settled herself gracefully on top of his jacket. His mind was racing with desire and his heart was pounding furiously. He could feel his hands covered with sweat. They hadn't even kissed yet and he was already hard with anticipation.

The food went rather unappreciated. The pair was far too focused on each other, watching each other with hungry eyes, and barely noticed what they were feeding their stomachs. In truth, it didn't really matter. The tension between them was so real, so palpable that all that mattered was for the food to be gone so that he could bed her.

Under the circumstances, it didn't take them long at all to consume their food, barely exchanging a word. After all, there wasn't any need. They both knew what they had come for, and talking about it wouldn't do anything but delay the event. Neither of them wanted that.

After what felt like the longest meal of Sirius's life, he found Mikki inching his way, just as he had always imagined. He began to shudder with anticipation, eager for her touch. Her hand brushed against his cheek as she moved to tangle her fingers in his hair and he moaned in spite of himself.

Sirius had had sex many times before, but this was nothing like any of those other times except in the mechanics. He felt as though he was floating, as though he was freezing and on fire all at once. He found himself briefly thinking at one point about how glad he was that there was no one around to hear their screams of passion. He had no idea he was capable of feeling the things he was feeling, no idea that there was a bliss this powerful.

He had no concept of time, but after just one round they were both exhausted and sated, and yet he wanted more of her. She, however, refused his advances for a second go.

"You know we can't, Sirius," she said with a sigh, but she did kiss him gently and curl her little body into his. At that moment, he didn't even care that they weren't having more sex. She was presenting a side of herself that he was sure no one else had ever seen: Mikki as a vulnerable young woman. He loved her confident, brave side, but he couldn't get enough of seeing this other side of her, proud that he was the only man who ever would.

When he woke up, she was gone. For a moment, he wondered if it had all been a dream. The heat of her body was gone, and he rolled over, disappointed that she wasn't with him, but there was a note beside him.

_Sirius – _

_If I had waited around for you to wake up, I wouldn't have been able to tell you know. It's better this way. See you in school. Despite how things have to be, I love you and I always will. That was the best day of my life._

_Love always,_

_-Mikki_

He read it over and over again, hoping the words would change, hoping that it wasn't her sick little way of saying good-bye forever… But it was.

Sirius had known all along that Mikki could never be his. She had said as much a dozen times that this was a one-time thing. But knowing hadn't made it any easier and knowing it was all over made his insides twist painfully. He wanted to rip himself in two. It would be better than dealing with all of the pain of her being apart from him forever.

At the same time, she had said that she loved him. She loved him. Mikki Clark loved him, Sirius Black. Sure, it wouldn't lead to anything, but she _loved_ him. For now, knowing that would have to hold him over.

He made his way back to London, to Grimmauld Place, to the home he always dreaded going back to. His period of something like peace with his parents was sure to end now that he wasn't marrying Mikki. Perhaps she would marry Malfoy. The thought made his blood boil, but if it was for the fight against Voldemort he understood why she would put herself through that.

He was lucky. No one was awake when he got in. The lights were off, and he snuck up to his bedroom as quietly as possible. However, when he reached his landing, the door of his brother's bedroom swung open.

"How was your date, Sirius?" said Regulus softly. "You missed an important family announcement today."

"Oh?" said Sirius, feigning interest. "It went well enough."

"She won't marry you, Sirius," Regulus hissed.

"No, you're right," Sirius growled. "She'll go off and marry that Malfoy scum and it doesn't even matter that we're in love. But what you know or don't know doesn't matter, because our mother will never believe what you have to say."

"She won't marry Malfoy, either," Regulus said, a smug sort of smile forming on his lips.

"What?" Sirius hissed.

"Malfoy got engaged this afternoon, to our dear cousin Narcissa. Mother wanted to thank you for that properly. If you hadn't contested his claim, he probably would have been ensnared by Mikki's charms and forgotten all about poor Cissy." Regulus got right up in Sirius's face and breathed, "Just think, Sirius, you didn't merely save Cissy's marriage prospects, but you saved Lucius Malfoy's life with your own selfish pursuits. Too bad you can't have her anyway. Was she a good fuck?"

The sound of that word rolling off his little brother's tongue in such a vulgar way made Sirius snap. He pushed Regulus into the wall, hissing with anger, their faces still separated only by the thinnest wall of air imaginable.

"Be careful, Regulus," Sirius said. "Saying such things about a lady of a family of such high esteem… That wouldn't sit well with your little pureblood supremacists, now, would it? Who do you think they'd believe, you or Mikki? Let's face it, even without whatever powers you claim she has, she's got a lot more weight in your world than you do. Best to keep your nose clean, eh, Reg?"

And with that, Sirius released his brother and went to his own room, but he didn't sleep. He couldn't sleep. Sleeping without Mikki in his arms didn't feel right anymore, didn't seem possible.

Eventually, though, he grew tired enough for a short sleep, and his dreams were filled with her. The feel of her skin on his, the taste of her body, the rhythm of their lovemaking coinciding with their frantic heartbeats and desperate panting and moaning, all flashing through his subconscious in a wonderful array of desire and love. He awoke merely two hours after falling asleep feeling no better for the bit of restless sleep he had acquired, and desperate to hold her in his arms for just one more time.

Breakfast was different, there was something in the air that Sirius couldn't place and Regulus gave him a hollow, closed sort of look as he took his place at the table. Thankfully, however, he said nothing.

"You missed some important news yesterday, Sirius," said his father over his morning _Prophet_. Sirius helped himself to the bacon and blandly inquired as to the news.

"Your cousin is engaged," said his mother proudly, "to Lucius Malfoy. She'll probably come by later to thank you for that."

He hadn't thought about that, but of course, to maintain proprieties Druella would make Narcissa thank the one who had ended Lucius's prior courtship. What a silly thing, he mused. They were watching him expectantly, as though they thought he ought to say something. Hollowly congratulating them wouldn't do: His parents would hear the lie in his voice. Perhaps…

"They deserve each other," he said honestly, careful to keep any angry sound from his voice.

"Yes, it is a smart match," his mother said with a twisted Black smile. "And speaking of smart matches, is there further news that we can celebrate?"

Ah, that. They were expecting him to declare some sort of courtship or engagement of his own.

"No, mother, there is not," he said.

"Taking it slow, then?" his father said, not looking up from his paper. "When is the next outing?"

"There isn't," Sirius said honestly.

His mother's expression turned hard instantly. The drastic change would have frightened a lesser person, but Sirius would have expected nothing else. His mother hadn't really changed her feelings about him, she was just playing a part for the good of her own interests, just as Sirius hadn't really changed his views on pureblood courtships, but he played the part to be allowed to go out with Mikki.

"What did you just say?" his mother hissed, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. The room screamed with the silence that followed in such distracting oppressiveness that Orion Black even looked up from his newspaper to watch what was about to happen.

**A/N: HAHAHA, cliffhanger. Yeah, I know, sorry about that, but I've already got a rough plan for the next chapter, so it shouldn't be TOO long. Read and Review for shorter wait time!**


	7. Feels Like Forever

Sirius looked calmly up at his mother, swallowed his bacon, and replied, "Mikki and I are no longer seeing each other. There will be no second date."

"Why not?" hissed his mother, making him think of an incredibly angry and ugly tea kettle. He wouldn't have been surprised at all to see steam coming out of her ears.

"Because I'm not what she's looking for," he said honestly. He wasn't a Death Eater. She didn't want to kill him. They couldn't be together. The thought made him sick with pain.

His mother's face curled into a look of pure disgust.

"The one thing," she said softly, "that I thought you would be able to manage to do properly and you can't even accomplish that. Why couldn't Regulus have been the firstborn? He would have made such a good heir. You're just a disgrace."

Sirius didn't even care that she said it. Words like that had been heard so often that they didn't even hurt anymore. Wasn't it supposed to be traumatic for a child to hear their mother degrade them like this? But there wasn't any time to think on that before he had to duck. His mother's butter knife flew across the table at his head. Thank Merlin for canine reflexes.

The screeching was the least of his worries as every sharp object in the room began to randomly hurl itself at him. He wasn't exactly sure why his not courting some girl was what set his mother on him in all her psychotic glory, but he supposed it was just the last straw.

Looking back, with all the spells, sharp objects, and cruel words being thrown at him at every turn, Sirius would acknowledge that his getting out alive was a miracle. Somehow – he didn't remember how after all was said and done – he managed to gather his trunk, which hadn't yet been unpacked, get out to his bike, and fly to the Potters', half-conscious with blood loss and a poorly cast Cruciatus Curse. He landed in the front yard, stumbling off his bike, collapsing on the grass, and his world fading to black just as Mr. Potter's voice echoed around in his head and Mrs. Potter's worried face swam above him.

Sirius woke up on a familiar Gryffindor-red couch in a familiar sitting room with three familiar faces looking down at him.

"Sirius?" said Mrs. Potter's voice distantly. "Can you hear me? How are you feeling?"

"I feel like hippogriff shit," he moaned. "But I can hear you."

"What happened, mate?" said James hoarsely from somewhere above him. "You look like you've been attacked. Who did this?"

"My mother," Sirius gasped. "My mother did it. I don't really remember what all happened, it's a bit of a blur. I told them I wasn't courting Mikki and my mother snapped. Can we talk it over later? I feel like I have some internal bleeding going on here."

For the next few hours, Mrs. Potter, a retired Healer, went about assessing and fixing Sirius, who was actually far worse injured than he had realized. James went off to tell Remus and Peter that Sirius was staying with him, but not what had happened, at Sirius's request. Mr. Potter took Sirius's things up to the room he used when with them and made dinner, keeping himself out of his wife's way.

"Well, Sirius," sighed Mrs. Potter, "Mikki Clark must be some girl if she's worth all this."

Sirius gave a painful little bark of laughter.

"She's the best, Mum. But this was coming with or without her, eventually."

"Tell me about her," she said, and he realized she was distracting him while she checked him over for serious injuries.

"She's the prettiest, most intelligent, most confident girl in the whole world," he gushed, trying not to think about the gushing occurring on his arm at that very moment. "She's so strong."

"Sounds exactly the way James describes Lily Evans," she said with a knowing smile."

Sirius winced, hoping she thought it was because she was poking him in the broken ribs with her wand. Lily…

"Except I've seen this other side of her, too," Sirius said, taking the conversation away from Lily. "Once, after she got into a fight with someone, she just collapsed into my arms and cried for an hour. She's so strong, but she feels so much. And the other day, I watched her sleep. She looks so sweet and innocent when she sleeps, Mum, so vulnerable and perfect. The girl could give the devil himself a run for his money when she's in a rage, but she's an absolute angel when she's sleeping."

"Most girls do," Mrs. Potter muttered. "It's a biological ploy so you don't kill the girl sleeping next to you when you wake up after a wild night and find her in your bed."

Sirius's eyes widened with shock as three ribs snapped painfully back into place.

"Ah!" he cried. "Merlin, Mum, did you have to do them all at once?"

"I had you distracted," she said with a shrug and a sly smile. "I thought you'd appreciate that more than one at a time. It aches when you have to drag it out like that."

"I'm finding it hard to thank you at the moment," he moaned. "Anyway, is that all or do you have to snap any more bones back into place?"

"All you have left are a few superficial cuts," she said with a smirk that looked much like the one her son often wore. "Just a matter of a few flicks of a wand and you're good as new. Well, physically, at any rate."

"Thanks Mum," he muttered. With a heavy yawn, he realized just how tired he still was, and she ordered him up to bed as soon as she was done with his healing. Sirius went without complaint, falling into the comfortable, warm bed as soon as he reached the room and falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When he woke up, there was an owl on his nightstand, waiting patiently with a letter.

It was from Mikki.

_My love,_

_Your mother and father just contacted my mother. They were apologizing for your behavior, whatever it was, assuring my mother that you were no longer the Black heir, and offering up Regulus in your stead. As amusing as their begging was, I want to know what the hell you did, what you told them, and if you're okay, because I can't imagine they just peacefully wrote you out of the will._

_Anyway, you'll probably ask, so I'll tell you right away that I turned down the offer of your brother. Maybe someday, but he's not a big enough fish at the moment. Dumbledore sent me a message, and my new target is the older Parkinson, what's his name… Christophe. You may remember him; he's about four years older than us, played Quidditch for Slytherin. He's a bit scrawny. I should be able to take him down in a matter of a year. But I suppose you don't need to know all the morbid details of my assignment._

_Just so you know, I haven't forgotten you. I think about you all the time, even when I ought to be focusing on other things. All my life I've wanted to just be human, but never as much as I do now. If there was some way to change, I would, I promise, because I want you more than I've wanted anything in my life, but there's nothing I can do. I'm so sorry. We shouldn't write too often. We might not be able to resist the temptation. This is how it has to be. Take care of yourself. Give my regards to the Potters (I'm sure you're in touch, if you aren't with them), and don't forget me._

_I love you forever._

_-M_

Before he realized what he was doing, Sirius had tears pouring down his cheeks, clutching the letter as if it was her, as if it could take him to her, kissing the parchment as though it were her sweet lips. But as much as he tried to imagine her, it wasn't good enough. He needed her.

After nearly an hour of blubbering like an idiot, Sirius managed to pull himself together enough to write several drafts, until he had a reasonably clever reply.

_My goddess,_

_I'm so sorry you had to deal with my crazy parents. I told them we wouldn't be having a second date and my mother assumed I had done something awful. She attacked me. It's fine, I'll be all right. I managed to get my things and get away on my motorbike. The Potters are looking after me. Mrs. Potter healed me up and I'm practically good as new again. Being written out of the will is news to me, but not altogether surprising._

_Part of me is glad you're not courting Regulus, because I can guarantee that wouldn't be fun for you, but after the threats he threw at me while I was home, I almost wish he was on your list. He actually told my parents about you, but they didn't believe him, said it was all rumors. He nearly ruined my date with you, the slimeball._

_Speaking of slime and filth, make Parkinson suffer tremendously. I haven't forgotten the Stinging Jinx from my first year. Honestly, who does that to innocent, helpless little children? He's joined the crazy maniac pureblood-supremacist, then?_

_Dumbledore's not going to ask you to join them, is he? I mean, in a way it's logical but… I don't want you getting sucked too far into that world. I know you won't be totally safe, but I don't want you being in such obvious danger._

_Mikki, I'm always thinking about you, always wanting you, and Mrs. Potter could tell pretty fast how in love with you I am. I hardly had to say a thing. I'll have as much contact as you'll give me, but just know it's never enough. I'm awaiting some sort of contact from you with bated breath, my angel. I could never forget you._

_See what a sappy fool you've made me?_

_Loving and worshiping your every breath,_

_-Sirius_

He sent the owl back to Mikki, crying a bit more over her letter before dressing and going down to the kitchen for a bite to eat. It was already lunchtime.

Summer was a blur. Remus and Peter visited a couple of times each. O.W.L. results arrived and Sirius and James did better than one might have expected for a pair who never studied. One owl came from Mikki, and it said nothing more than, "I love you always". She didn't even sign her name, but Sirius knew who it was from. The owl didn't even wait for a reply before taking off again.

Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were back in their compartment on the Hogwarts Express before Sirius even knew what had hit him. It had been the best summer of his life, playing Quidditch with James in the yard, chess in the study, and reading lots of Muggle magazines. But now he was going back to Hogwarts, back to Mikki, and the knowledge that she wouldn't let him get close enough to coax her into having him again burned. For the first time in his life, he both dreaded going back to school and ached to be there sooner.

He ignored Remus's knowing smirk as he fidgeted. He didn't care that Remus knew he was thinking of her, longing for her, helplessly a fool for her. There were worse things than falling in love, Sirius was sure of it.

"I've got to go to the prefect's carriage," Remus sighed, standing and waving goodbye to them. "Behave yourselves, especially you, Sirius."

Sirius glared at his friend, but he knew it was all for his own good. Still, he was lost in his own world until James's shoe flew out of nowhere and hit him square on the nose.

"What the hell was that for?" he whined, throwing the shoe back to his best friend.

"You weren't answering. I figured you're still half asleep and it was my duty to wake you."

"Answering what?"

"I asked when you're going to tell Prewett that you won the bet."

The bet. Sirius had forgotten all about it in the thrill of his love for Mikki. The bet… A smile came to his lips. The year could still be fun. It wouldn't be how he wanted, it couldn't, but he could still find ways to amuse himself. Fabian Prewett was first target.

"Let's let him sweat it out until tonight, just before he goes to sleep, so he can have nightmares about how I'll make him suffer."

The thought of Fabian's learning of the fulfillment of the bet made Sirius's heart feel a fair amount lighter. Just then, something occurred which made Sirius's light heart sink drastically.

"I have bad news," Remus said, slipping back into the compartment. "Lily said Mikki had written to her and she had been in contact with Tien–"

"What is it with females?" James muttered.

"And it sounds like Tien's family was targeted by the supremacists."

"What?" Sirius snapped. "What do you mean?"

"She's a Half-blood," Peter squeaked. "I thought they went for Muggleborns."

"Apparently her father supported a law that would have given more rights to Muggleborn witches. They had to flee the country."

"Great," James sighed. "Now I need to get us a new Keeper."

"James!" Sirius yelled. "What part of this are you not getting? They had to flee the country! She could be dead! She could be living off dirt and berries! How can you think of Quidditch at a time like this?"

"She's not dead," Remus sighed. "We know that they got out okay, but she won't be able to write. It's not safe."

"Well, that's good," Sirius conceded, "but James didn't know that when he started going on about Quidditch!"

"Whatever," James grumbled. "Let's start brainstorming Keepers."

"You know," Remus said thoughtfully, "I recall you saying Mary MacDonald was decent, you know, back in the days of tryouts, when you were trying to decide and settled on Tien. Maybe she could fill the void."

"Best idea you've had all day, Moony," James grinned. "Now, onto the next order of business: Evans…"

A collective groan arose through the compartment.

Later that night, after a long Sorting, a satisfying feast, and that first trip back to the Tower, which always seemed longer than the year before, the Marauders settled down in their dormitory, waiting for Fabian Prewett. They didn't have to wait long; he was only about three minutes behind them.

"What, no blonde tonight, Fabian?" Remus said, amused. "Too bloated from all the chicken you ate?"

Fabian frowned.

"I've decided to focus all of my energy on getting Clark, if you must know, Lupin. She'll fall to my charms yet."

"I wouldn't bother if I were you," Sirius drawled. "You've already lost."

The redhead blinked, frowned, blinked again, and then said, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I bedded Mikki Clark in July, that's what I mean," Sirius said with a smirk. "I believe this means I win, which in turn means you lose. Time for paying up."

For a moment, Fabian merely stared at him, as if trying to determine whether or not Sirius was pulling his leg.

"Well then," Fabian said, "how was it?"

"Heaven," Sirius exhaled, without meaning to, but while the other Marauder's laughed him and Fabian shared a silent look of understanding. Sirius and Fabian might not have seen eye to eye on most things, but the both understood what a real woman, a woman capable of bringing real pleasure, could do, and Sirius Black, after truly having sampled them all, could honestly say that none of them were near as amazing as Mikki.

"You're a very lucky bloke," Fabian grunted, admitting his defeat with characteristic humility. It ran through the Prewett line, and Sirius had speculated that it was part of what had made them such renowned blood traitors. It was easier to betray your bloodline if you were capable of being humble. The Blacks, on the other hand, were far less than capable of being humble.

When Fabian's payment and date of payment were decided upon, the boys changed and went about getting ready for bed. Sirius could hardly sleep. Sleeping was a different sort of thing for him now, now that he was in love with Mikki. When it happened, it hardly rested him and he dreamed of her constantly, and when it didn't happen he would lie awake thinking about her, longing for the warmth of her body curled up against him. But he would never have her again.

The one saving grace was the night. Every night since their union, Sirius had dreamt of Mikki. It wasn't as good as the real thing, but if that was the closest he was ever going to be to holding her again, he wanted to dream forever.

The realistic quality of the dreams, the way it almost felt like it was her eyes boring into his soul, her breath warming his skin… Sirius couldn't help but think that perhaps these dreams were a special gift from Mikki, a sort of parting gift, trying to make him more okay with their necessity to go their separate ways.

And as Sirius woke up the next morning, ready for class, he realized that he wasn't ready to be done with Mikki forever. When he had told Remus that he loved her, he meant it. If it took the rest of his life, if he lost everything else that mattered to him in the process, Sirius would have Mikki again, even if only once more. Nobody else would ever be enough to compare to the feelings he felt when their bodies moved together that day in the woods, and nobody else would ever fill the hole in his heart.

**A/N: This chapter is dedicated to **_**HBIC Never Again**_**, whose adding this story to alerts put me over the edge with reader-inspired frenzy and finished this chapter which was patiently waiting for five hundred words for about a week and a half. Cheers!**

**-J**


	8. Growing Up

Sirius would never have forgiven himself if anyone had caught him at it, but he and Lily had begun meeting each other every other night in various parts of the castle. Remus knew, of course, and he didn't say a word, but he gave Sirius regular disappointed looks, and Lily seemed rather excited about the idea of the secrecy. Mikki knew as well, but if she cared, she didn't show it. The illustrious Mikki Clark was as aloof as ever, and dating some Slytherin, who was mysteriously wasting away.

Sometimes, though, Sirius would see Mikki curled up in the common room, alone during her free periods, thinking nobody was around to hear her, and she sobbed. He wasn't sure if she was crying over the job she was doing for Dumbledore, or the way Sirius was shagging Lily more regularly than he was eating vegetables, but he hoped that she was crying over him. He didn't want her to hurt, but if she was already shedding the tears, he felt a little justified in hoping that she missed him as much as he missed her.

But it hurt to see her in pain, all the same. A part of Sirius want to reach out to her, to hold her and kiss away all her pain and fear, but he knew she wouldn't let him. She had too much pride, and wanted too badly to keep him at bay.

So Sirius spent more time with Lily, feeling a bit guilty at not telling James but being too afraid to say a word, and Mikki and Sirius began pretending (quite unconvincingly) that the other didn't exist.

The year went but like that, and Remus did his best to keep his mouth shut, because they all knew that if James ever found out the half of what Sirius had been up to, the Marauders would be over.

The shocking thing was when Lily finally agreed to date James. Sirius hadn't seen that coming, Remus hadn't seen that coming… even James hadn't seen it coming.

"He can give me things you won't, Sirius," she said softly one night. "I know you won't marry me or stay faithful to me. I know you love Mikki. But James, he's so in love with me he can't even help himself. I've spent years wishing he was you, but now I'm almost wishing you were him. I guess I grew up."

But growing up, it seemed, didn't mean she outgrew Sirius entirely. When they graduated, Lily still dropped by Sirius's house from time to time, though less often than Sirius would have thought a year ago, before she started actually dating his best friend.

The truly shocking moment came when she showed up one day, ring on her finger.

"What the fuck is that?" Sirius hissed, looking at the gold band, the flawless diamond, and the way it sat on her hand.

He knew, of course, what it was, but he was surprisingly unhappy about it.

He loved Mikki, so why did he care if Lily married James?

But whatever he wanted, the wedding went on without his permission. James had Sirius be the best man, which Sirius couldn't refuse. He had always expected to be James's best man, just not at the wedding to the girl Sirius was sleeping with. And even more unnerving was the sight of that beautiful black-haired girl at the back of the wedding.

By the time the reception came, he looked for her again, but Mikki was gone.

"I asked her to be in the wedding," Lily whispered as she helped herself to punch as his eyes scanned the crowd. "She said her husband wouldn't like it much, but that she'd tried to sneak in for a minute or two. I assume that's who you're looking for."

Sirius couldn't help but wince. He was a little bit surprised that Lily had even invited Mikki, but women were weird about those things. Maybe it was her little way of saying she'd won, still sleeping with Sirius _and_ married to someone who wasn't trying to kill off a bunch of innocent people.

And Sirius and Lily were still sleeping together, of course. They had tried not doing so, but it didn't last all that long. He still felt a bit guilty every time he had her in his arms, both for betraying Mikki and James, but Mikki understood, and James would never know. At least, he hoped very much that both of those things were true, because he couldn't keep himself from doing what he knew he shouldn't.

"Why?" Remus asked him at one point when they were doing a job together for Dumbledore. "Why do you do it when you know it could tear apart the two most important people in your life?"

But Sirius didn't have an answer. He knew it was wrong. He knew it was probably the worst thing he could do as a friend, as a brother, as a person. But he couldn't stop himself. Somehow, when he was with Lily, it dulled the pain of not having Mikki just a bit, and somehow that justified in his twisted, agonized mind, all of the things he knew were so very wrong, all the pain it would cause if James ever knew the truth to both James and Lily.

But Lily got pregnant (it was James's, they were sure – Sirius had been away for a month while the child was conceived) and Sirius's world changed once more.

He tried to distance himself for a while, to end the non-relationship he had with Lily. It wouldn't be healthy for him, and they wouldn't be able to continue with a child in the picture. But James made things difficult.

"Stay with Lily while I'm on this mission," he would insist to Sirius. "I trust you to take care of her."

And take care of her he did. He made sure Lily had everything she asked for, and even anticipated some of her desires… And she never fell asleep alone.

Harry's birth was a stressful time for all of them, running around, making sure Lily got the Healers she needed at the house, Sirius trying to keep James out of her bedroom because she kept subconsciously launching heavy things at him with her out-of-control magic whenever he tried to see how the labor was coming. Remus made everybody tea which nobody drank and Peter sat in the corner, staring at a spot on the rug like it was the most fascinating thing in the history of the world. Sirius thought for a while that the house would explode.

Finally, James was allowed in the room because little Harry James Potter was fully out of his mother, who was calming down now that the child was alive, healthy, and not kicking her in the stomach. After a bit, James, who was told to go and tell the rest of the Order that the baby had been born so that he didn't have time to think about doing anything stupid, sent Sirius in the room on Lily's request.

Sirius ignored Remus's raised eyebrows as he made his way to the bedroom to see his new godson.

"Hey," he said, sitting down on the bed beside Lily, who was covered in sweat and looking exhausted. He'd seen her looking that way dozens of times, but usually it was him that brought her to that point. "How do you feel?"

"Well enough," she sighed. "Tired. Want to hold him?"

Of course he did, and Sirius held out his arms to take the tiny baby with the little bit of jet-black hair into them.

"His father's hair, then," Sirius said with a smile. "Hopefully he'll get your looks otherwise, not be stuck with James's ugly mug."

"Don't let James hear you say that," Lily laughed. "It was all I could do to get him to agree to anything other than James Jr. for a name."

Sirius shook his head.

"I'm glad you managed that," he said, gently stroking the head of the newborn child.

Lily watched him for a moment, thinking deeply about something, and finally she said, "I wanted to have Mikki here for this, but I couldn't risk it. She can't interact with us. It would put us and her at risk. It's just hard, you know, having my best friend effectively be as good as the enemy because of what she has to do. I don't understand…"

"What don't you understand?" Sirius asked softly, jostling the baby slightly in a playful way.

"What is she doing?" Lily asked. "Why does it have to be her? Why isn't she allowed to marry who she wants?"

Sirius knew that she was inferring him in that statement, that she thought Mikki wanted to marry him, and for a moment he felt a rush of pride. He would have loved to have had Mikki forever, although the temptation would have been maddening. But then he realized Lily didn't know…

"Lily," he said softly, "Mikki's not human."

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"What is that supposed to mean, Sirius?"

"She's a succubus."

Lily gave a short laugh.

"I heard enough of those ridiculous rumors in school, thank you," she said tersely. "I don't need to hear them now. Whatever she may be, that's just one of the most absurd things I've ever heard."

Sirius shook his head.

"No, Lily, I'm not making this up. She's really a succubus." Lily looked at him, disbelieving. "That's why she and I can't be together. It's why she had to marry a Death Eater. Dumbledore's having her kill them with her special methods…"

Lily blinked, trying to wrap her brain around this notion.

"Are you suggesting," she said softly, "that she's… that he's having her… kill Death Eaters with _sex_?"

Sirius just nodded, and Lily seemed to be pondering this possibility, trying to find a hole in it that she could pick at, but he could tell that the more she thought about it, the more she realized it had to be true. Finally, she looked up at him, horror and pain in her eyes and she said, "Oh, Sirius, that's terrible."

"Yeah," he said, kissing Harry's little forehead. "Yeah, it is."

They didn't say anything for quite a while after that, merely watching Harry sleep in Sirius's arms. It was then that Sirius realized why he had the relationship he did with Lily. She was Mikki's best friend. She was a piece of the woman he loved, and she was the only person who could even remotely understand how much it hurt him that he couldn't be near Mikki Clark. Lily missed her best friend at least half as much as Sirius missed her, and the best they could do was to seek solace in each other, wrong though it was.

When James came back Sirius handed over his godson and went back to his house, pacing the floor until he had blisters on the bottom of his feet, then collapsing into bed and dreaming of Mikki, as he always did. She was reminding him he was hers, and he certainly knew it. No matter what happened with Lily, no matter how long it had been since he had been with Mikki, there was never any question in Sirius's mind of whom he really belonged to.

For three days, he didn't leave his house, just paced and paced until he passed out to dream of her all over again. The cycle was maddening, and finally Remus showed up, forcing Sirius to shower, eat, and get out of the house, taking him out for a walk in Muggle London to talk.

"I know you're still a bit in shock about the baby," Remus said, but Sirius shook his head. "What?"

"It's not about Harry," Sirius said.

Remus hesitated, obviously not believing, but then he said, "Sirius, I have to ask, is there any way he's yours?"

"No," Sirius said honestly. "No, he's not mine. I was on a mission when she conceived him. He's James's, thank Merlin."

Remus nodded.

"So are you jealous that she and James–?"

Sirius gave a bark of humorless laughter.

"I'm not jealous of her sleeping with her husband, Moony," he cried. "No, I… I want Mikki so badly, Remus. I keep thinking I can be without her, that I'll start to forget her, but it's crazy. I'll never really forget her. That's why I'm with Lily in the first place… but it's all wrong. I know it."

"So stop it!" Remus demanded. "Stop sleeping with your best friend's wife!"

"I'll try," Sirius moaned, "but it's not that simple."

"No, it really is that simple," Remus insisted.

"No," Sirius snapped. "You wouldn't know, Remus, you've never been in love!" Remus blinked in surprise. "You've never had to have something you want more than life itself taken out of your grasp and held just beyond your reach where you can see it and so not forget it, but can't possibly have it no matter how hard you try. You've got no idea what that's like!"

For a moment, Remus just looked at Sirius, frowning, considering. Then he said softly, "I've been in love, Sirius. Just because I never told you about that doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Sirius blinked, not entirely sure for a moment that he had heard his friend properly.

"Who–?"

"Tien," Remus said shortly. "But she's gone. It doesn't matter." He looked up at Sirius with tears in his eyes and said, "I knew I could never have all of her because she was always entranced with you. Just as Lily will always want you, even when she knows she can't have you. James is a lucky fool, not knowing the truth of the matter, but I can't stand this, Sirius, watching you do to him without him knowing what you did to me. You could have anyone. You don't need Lily."

"But I do," Sirius whispered. "I need her for the same reason I needed Tien. She understands, she understands my needs and my pain more than anyone else, more than all the foolish girls who keep trying to get into my bed. I'm not trying to justify what I've done, Remus, but… I wish you could understand. I wish you could realize my pain. I… I'm sorry. You're right, of course. You always are."

Sirius went to Lily the next day with every intention of calling the whole thing off. Remus was right. Remus was always right, and Sirius really ought to listen to him more often.

But of course, that wasn't what had happened.

At first, they agreed to create boundaries, to end what they had been doing, but one night when he was helping her look after Harry, after the baby had gone to sleep, she had laid her head on his shoulder and Sirius's resolve was effectively shattered.

He came over more often, they put Harry down to sleep earlier, and they became much more regular with their silencing charms. Remus became more and more distant from Sirius, increasingly more disgusted and disappointed with his friend's behavior and unable on good faith to continue going on trying to convince Sirius of something he knew would never happen.

When Albus Dumbledore announced that the Potters would have to go into hiding, Sirius's mind raced with fear. Harry, James, Lily… all three of them were his whole world. He didn't know what Voldemort wanted with them, but he absolutely wouldn't let the cause take all that was left in his life, since Mikki had been taken from him long ago.

For a long time things were more or less how they had been, except that there was an increase in protective enchantments on the Potters' home and James wasn't allowed to leave the house. Sirius would visit sometimes and try to be sympathetic about his friend's cabin fever, but sometimes it was hard to be too sympathetic knowing that James was getting the sex life every night that Sirius was missing out on. But Voldemort was after them, so Sirius tried not to let his sexual frustration make him behave insensitively. He knew it would drive him mad to be cooped up when others were fighting the Death Eaters.

There was a point, however, when the protective spells were deemed no longer enough.

"Dumbledore's telling me to find a Secret-Keeper," James said one night over firewhiskey.

"Secret-Keeper?" Sirius repeated, trying to think what that was.

"Fidelius Charm," James sighed. "One person and only one person could betray where we are. If that person doesn't tell anyone, no one can find us. It'll literally be like we don't exist if we don't leave the house. We'll be safe to wait out the end of the war."

The bitterness in his voice was unmistakable. Still, they both knew that it was safer this way, and that Dumbledore wouldn't ask James to take such drastic measures if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

"That's pretty rough," Sirius said, secretly thinking how utterly impossible it would be for him to bed Lily again before the end of the war.

"I want you to do it," James said abruptly.

"What?" Sirius spluttered, wondering if by some bizarre twist of fate he'd accidentally voiced his thoughts out loud and James was calling for a wild and raunchy threesome.

"I want you to be our Secret-Keeper," James said firmly. "There's no one else I trust more."

"I would be honored," Sirius said honestly, for despite everything James didn't know, Sirius still considered him a brother.

Just before the charm was to be performed, Sirius got a brilliant idea, though, knowing there was a spy somewhere in the organization, knowing that if he didn't put necessary distance between himself and Lily he might succumb to the temptation…. Peter would be the Secret-Keeper. Sirius had begun to suspect that Remus was the spy, he had begun to think that Remus would surely go straight to the Death Eaters and tell them that Sirius was the Secret-Keeper. It wasn't much of a secret, truthfully, and he was the obvious choice, but Peter…

The plan was perfect. No one would suspect a thing. Lily and James and Harry would truly be safe. When they tortured Sirius, he would truly be incapable of betraying them.


	9. Epilogue

**A/N: This story is at its end with this epilogue. It starts between books four and five, before Sirius goes into hiding at Grimmauld Place, while he's out informing "the old crowd" and goes through a bit after the war. Cheers.**

**-J**

"Who's left alive, Remus?" Sirius said, leaning over a piece of parchment he was going to use to take down the information of the people he had to alert of Voldemort's return.

"Dedalus," Remus said with a sigh, sitting down beside him. "Aberforth. Hestia. That's… oh, no, wait, Mikki's still alive."

"Mikki?" Sirius asked, head jerking up to stare at Remus, a thrill rushing through him. "Mikki's still alive?"

"Yeah, she's famous," Remus replied dryly. "She's famous for being rich and beautiful and having been mysteriously widowed about seven times. The most popular rumor is poison."

"Ah," Sirius said with a small, half-amused, half-pained smile. "Is she married now, then?"

"No, she's not," Remus said, shaking his head. "She's kept the surname of the husband who gave her a son–"

"She's got a kid?" Sirius cried.

"He's Harry's age," Remus said calmly. "Bright, handsome, truly his mother's son. Except he's in Slytherin, but I always said she would have been there if the Sorting Hat had placed her anywhere but Gryffindor."

"What's his name?" Sirius asked softly, sitting down across from Remus, hands shaking.

"Blaise Zabini," Remus said with a soft smile. "He was the only Slytherin who didn't give me a hard time when I taught. Probably his mother told him that I was an old friend. She tried to send me new robes when she found out I'd gotten the job, but I wouldn't take them. I know it was because she felt guilty, and I didn't want to take charity off her guilty conscience."

Sirius couldn't help but snort.

"Remus, you don't take charity off anything or anyone without a fight. Even if it's not really charity. She doesn't have a husband?"

"No, not at the moment," Remus said slowly. "Not since she killed Blaise's father, I think."

Sirius couldn't help but wonder at the casual way Remus could say those words, like there was nothing unusual at all about a woman killing her husband. The things they had seen in the war… things that no human being should ever have to witness. Mikki killing husbands on Dumbledore's orders was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Do you think… do you know where she lives?" Sirius whispered, not meeting his friend's eyes.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Sirius," Remus said firmly. "If you want someone to talk to her, I'll go."

"Remus, please," Sirius said urgently. "I have to see her, Remus. I need to. I haven't even seen her face in years and it's killing me."

"It will kill you if you can't control yourself, and I know you two. There's a reason you haven't seen her in years, Sirius."

"Yeah," Sirius spat. "And his name's Peter Pettigrew."

Remus sighed.

"I'm not referring to Azkaban, Sirius."

Sirius shook his head. He knew exactly what Remus was referring to, but it didn't matter anymore. There was a war on. She could die. He could die. He needed to see Mikki, just once, just one time. She was the one thing he'd thought of since he got out that he hadn't been able to access while in Azkaban, a thought that had haunted him since the day he got out of the fortress. Twelve years was a long time and he'd half wanted to find her that moment, but the risk was too great, without Peter, without proof.

"Remus," Sirius sighed, "as soon as I've finished this mission, Albus is going to lock me up in a safehouse. You know that. I need to see her, just once before I'm locked away, unable to see her again for Merlin knows how long. Please."

Remus sighed, frowning at his oldest friend, but his firm stance melted under Sirius's obvious need to see the woman he loved and he gave Sirius the address.

It was a large manor house, and Sirius felt proud that she'd done so well for herself. Granted, she probably hated herself for what she'd had to do. He only wished he could have protected her, provided her with everything she deserved without her having to get her hands dirty, but Mikki wouldn't have wanted to stay on the sidelines, especially not when she was capable of more. He hid his face behind a newspaper and knocked on the door, hoping it wasn't a servant of some kind answering the door. He didn't want to have to use magic.

It was lucky it was her, then, and barely looking a day older than she had when he'd been sent to jail. She didn't even look remotely surprised to see him, just motioned him into the manor discretely, slamming the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" she said suddenly, not even noticing how Sirius stared at her, as though he'd never seen her before and he'd only just realized he was in the presence of a beautiful woman.

"You know, I never thought it was possible," he whispered, "but you've become even more beautiful than when we were young. I missed out on so much."

"They're dead, Sirius," she whispered, taking a step away from him, although he hadn't moved toward her. "My husbands are dead. The Potters are dead. Voldemort is dead. They're all dead. Why are you here? It's not like you can claim me any more than you could back then."

"No," he whispered regretfully, "but I wish I could, Mikki. I wish I could. But Voldemort's not dead. He returned, killed the Diggory boy. Dumbledore's sent me out to alert the old crowd. It's why I'm here, although seeing you again is undoubtedly a beautiful bonus."

Her eyes widened and she walked over to the door, her wand out, looking around outside through the windows. Then she took his hand and led him upstairs into a room with no windows: Her bedroom.

"I'm paranoid, I know," she whispered, warding the room, "but when you've lived like I have so long you really can't afford not to be. Mad-Eye knows."

"Yeah," Sirius muttered. "Mad-Eye spent a year in the bottom of his own trunk, so I think he's about to get a whole lot more constantly vigilant."

"What?" she hissed. "What are you talking about?"

Sirius told Mikki the whole story, and what started out as them standing in her bedroom led to them sitting on her bed, sipping wine, leaning ever closer to each other as he gave her all the details of the return of their greatest enemy.

"So Potter's your godson and knows it," Mikki said, smirking. "Does he know that you used to bed his mother? Does he know how you would hold her, even after he was born, and how you would make her scream, all the while thinking of me and wishing she was me?"

Sirius shivered, trying not to think about how she might have known such things, but then, she and Lily had, strangely, been the best of friends and the cleverest girls to grace Hogwarts since the Founding and until Hermione Granger came along. He had to agree with Remus, that girl was right up there with Mikki and Lily.

"He doesn't," Sirius admitted, suddenly realizing that her lips were hanging tantalizingly close to his. "He doesn't even know anything about you, except maybe that you're the mother of a kid who's in his year. How's that, by the way?"

Mikki gave a bitter laugh.

"You know, as much as it's strange to admit," she sighed, inexplicably draping her arm around Sirius's neck as she sipped her wine, "Blaise is really the light of my life. When you were taken to jail, he's the only reason I didn't kill myself. The thought that I'd never see you again, never hold you again... Even Dumbledore's insistence that I was needed wasn't strong enough to make me hold on, but Blaise looking up at me with those eyes... Well, Sirius, he gave me strength, even though I killed his father. I killed all of them. But that doesn't matter, I made a pretty good living at it," she ended dryly. "Blaise doesn't mind, he keeps my condition absolutely a secret, and when I told him that Remus Lupin was an old friend of mine and to treat him with the utmost respect he thought it was odd, but when Snape revealed his condition at the end of the year, Blaise said he understood why I'd said it and he actually wrote Remus a letter saying that he was very sorry that he was leaving and that he'd been a great teacher. I didn't even have to ask, Sirius, he did it on his own. He makes me so proud."

Somewhere along the line, they'd grown dangerously close and their wine glasses slipped out of their hands, causing a mess that could be dealt with some other time as Sirius pressed his lips hungrily to Mikki's, following her as she laid back on the bed, pulling him down on top of her.

It was every bit as heavenly as they'd remembered and Sirius found himself panting several hours later, clutching her quite fit naked body to him, wishing he could brave just one more time but knowing that she would never forgive herself if she succumbed and something happened to him. Instead he just held her like he'd never held anything in his life.

"I have to know," Mikki asked, running her fingers along his collarbone, collecting his sweat beneath her nails, "did you love her?"

"Who?" Sirius asked absently, trying to recall what they'd even been talking about before the fateful kiss.

"Lily. Did you love Lily?"

He blinked, thinking back to how it had felt, holding James's wife in his arms, making love to her, feeling her contract around him and hearing her scream his name... It was incredible, no doubt about it but... but...

"Sort of," Sirius admitted. "I mean, I think the person I was then, the things I had to live with then, I think with all of that in mind I loved her very much but it was never quite... enough. I always had that memory of you, and I've always belonged to you no matter what you were able to give me. I've never resented that. I absolutely adore you, Mikki, I always will. I only wish I could give you the life you deserve, but I'm human and there's nothing I can do."

"I know," she whispered, tears in her eyes. "I know. I'm just so glad you're back. I wish you could stay with me, but..."

"I know," he sighed. "I know.

Sirius never saw Mikki Clark again. To avoid all possible suspicion from Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, Mikki never went to an Order meeting, although she kept up correspondence with Kingsley under the guise of courting a young, attractive, powerful pureblood, passing messages to the Order in code, and occasionally through Severus Snape, whom she bonded with over her love of Lily Evans and completely deplored for his lack of respect for Sirius.

When Sirius Black's death was reported to her by Bellatrix, who was proudly bragging, it took all of Mikki's strength not to show her emotions, to break down and cry or even to throw something at Bellatrix, and although she wanted to die the moment she knew he was dead, Blaise, who came home from school not long after, sat her down and comforted her.

"Mother," he said softly, petting Mikki as she sobbed. He had just finished cleaning up a broken wine bottle that she had thrown at the wall when she saw the Daily Prophet article about Sirius's innocence, declaring him a hero and stating his death as a tragedy. She had been furious that they would be so bold after making most of his life an absolute hell. "I don't know why you're so upset about this, but if the death of this man bothers you so much, giving up isn't the answer."

"And what is?" she hissed bitterly.

"Do you know who killed him?"

"Very, very well," Mikki growled. "I heard the news from her mouth, actually."

"Well, then," Blaise said, kissing his mother sweetly on the head, "don't rest until she's dead."

They didn't inspire Mikki to kill Bellatrix as Blaise had surely meant, but they did give Mikki the courage to go on, just for a little while longer. It was, after all, what Sirius would have wanted.

/-/

Harry and Neville had responded to the alert that Ron had received while on duty directing emergencies to the available staff. The war had officially ended a week ago but the three boys were honorarily made full Aurors and set on the task, like the rest of the department, of hunting down the straggling Death Eaters and bringing them in, by Kingsley Shacklebolt himself.

"Fancy place," Harry remarked. "What was the call?"

"Disturbance of some kind," Neville recited. "It appeared to be a woman reporting the incident, Ron said, so it could be some sort of domestic spat. You know who's manor this is, don't you, Harry?"

"Haven't a clue."

"Mikki Zabini."

"Blaise's mum?"

"Yeah, that's the one, the model who killed all her husbands. This could be interesting, but probably nothing to do with the Death Eaters. Probably in and out."

Harry nodded and they knocked on the door. There was no answer. Neville nodded and Harry unlocked the door easily, checking for wards with a spell Hermione had taught him and leading the way into the manor when there turned out not to be any.

The house was dark, silent, empty. For a large manor that was home to only two people, it wasn't such a horribly strange thing, but Harry's skin was crawling with something he didn't understand.

"Split up or search together?" Neville whispered. "It's a big place."

"Together," Harry said, although he might have said split if there wasn't such an eerie sensation.

There was nothing, no sign of any sort of struggles, no sort of anything.

"This is ridiculous," Harry hissed when they got to the third floor, still not finding anything out of place. "_Homenum revelio!_"

There was someone, but it was faint. Harry didn't know what that meant, but he quickened his pace as he led Neville down the hall toward a door that was left open. It was a bedroom, no windows, no signs of anything, but there was an adjoining bath. Harry and Neville exchanged nervous looks as they pushed the slightly-ajar door open further. What they saw caused Neville to nearly vomit and Harry turned away quickly to regain his composure.

There was a naked woman, probably Mikki Zabini, lying in a tub full of bloody water, eyes open and glassy, her wand on the floor, probably slipping out of her hand as the life left her body.

"Accident or something?" Neville asked when he'd gathered his composure once more. "Or do you think she was murdered?"

"I'm not sure," Harry admitted, not sure what to do. "Maybe we should drain the tub, get a look at her wounds, check for spells, see what the last spell of her wand was, and search the room for clues. There was no Dark Mark."

"They're not all using the Dark Mark anymore," Neville pointed out as he waved his wand to clear the bloody water. "It's too conspicuous."

With the water gone the two boys - no, men - steeled themselves and turned to view her naked, dead body.

"Those are some really deep gashes," Harry remarked. "I feel like I've seen them before..."

"Where?"

"Draco Malfoy," Harry said softly. "And... and George Weasley and... and... This is one of the curses Snape invented. _Sectumpsempra_, it's a Dark curse, I don't even know the counter-curse. I think the only person who did is dead."

"Well, if her assailant knew that curse, he was probably a Death Eater," Neville reasoned. "I don't think Snape would have told it to just anyone."

Harry shook his head and said, "No, I don't think he told it to anyone. But apparently he told someone."

Neville picked up her wand and checked the last spell.

"Harry, Harry it was her wand. The spell was from her wand. You don't think the killer used her wand, do you? They haven't been doing that. Who would do that?"

"Nobody we've got a profile of," Harry said, stumped, looking around the room. "Scan her body while I check for other clues. Maybe there's something we're missing."

Harry looked around the seemingly-typical bathroom, wondering what was bothering him, what it was he couldn't put his finger on. Then he spotted it: a freshly written letter sitting on the sink.

"Anything?" he asked Neville, reaching out for the note and scanning it, eyes growing wide.

"Not so far," Neville asked. "You?"

"Maybe," he said, pausing halfway down the note and starting over, reading it aloud. "Listen to this, it's a note she just wrote before she died:

"_'I'm so sorry. I couldn't take it anymore. When they killed my best friends in the first war, it hurt. Then they locked up the love of my life in prison and I didn't want to go on living but I had my other best friend and my son and so I did._

_"'This war, Bellatrix Lestrange killed the love of my life and I wanted to die right then, but I kept living for my son. In the final battle, my last friend died, but so did the man responsible for his death. Molly Weasley took the desired task of Bellatrix's death from me, but I do not begrudge her that moment as she lost many loved ones of her own to the Death Eaters._

_"'They took everything from me, my pride, my dignity, my honor, my life, my love. I spent the last eighteen years in fear that they would also find a way to take my son, but I'm grateful that that, at least, was safe from their grasp._

_"'But my love is gone, my friends are gone, and my son no longer needs me. While he is away touring the world, I thought it best to rejoin my love in death, where we can be together without my hurting him as we could never have been in life. With such a life waiting for me, how could I have possibly stayed in this one? I only hope my son will forgive me._

_"'Mikki Clark'_"

The boys exchanged horrified looks.

"Suicide?" Harry whispered.

"Apparently."

"That's a terrible way to die."

"Yeah. I suppose we'll have to write Blaise. Be sure to save that letter, and bring along her wand. He'll want them."

"I wonder..."

"What?"

Harry shook his head.

"Never mind," he said. "It's not important. Let's just get the body taken care of, write up our reports and get out of this place."

But that wasn't the full truth. Harry felt a strange sense of something important in the note, in his finding the note, in him being the one on duty when her alert was given, which he realized she must have given herself before performing the spell. Her love, her dead love, killed by Bellatrix Lestrange...

A part of him almost thought it might have been Sirius, but that was absurd, he told himself as he gathered up the note and the wand and followed Neville back to the Ministry.


End file.
